


The Foxes and the Hounds

by orphan_account



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: F/M, Fake AH Crew, GTA AU, Genderbending
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-04-14
Updated: 2015-05-17
Packaged: 2018-03-22 20:53:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,492
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3743233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raychel Narvaez Jr. has only ever been normal, though that didn't really ring true for her roommate, Gavenia. One day, a simple visit to the bank goes terribly wrong, and Ray's life is flipped on its head.</p><p>Note: This is now a collection of the main verse and drabbles of things I felt like doing in this verse. Enjoy!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. She's an American Beauty, I'm an American Psycho.

A groan was a first thing heard in the morning.  
Long black hair was pulled off of saliva sticky cheeks, glasses were bent back into shape and replaced on the face, and wild hands tried to grab for the DS that was taking the plunge from the couch. The device clattered to the floor, but was scooped up immediately, as if it were a wounded child. 

"Shit!" Came the shout from the girl, who swung her legs over the edge of the couch as she switched on the system, heaving a sigh of relief as it fuctioned just fine.  
A door opened somewhere in the little apartment, and footsteps could be heard padding down the hallway.  
"Raychel, really? It's too bloody early for yelling." The new arrival, a tall, gangly girl by the name of Gavenia, mumbled as she crossed the room and disappeared into the kitchen.  
Raychel rolled her eyes, taking off her spectacles and wiping them on her oversized tee shirt before putting them back on her face. 

"I had good reason, Gav, so shove it!" The black haired girl called, only to get nondescript mumbling as a reply. Ray picked up her phone and checked the time, feeling a little bad because it was quarter past seven in the morning. She got up, dropping her electronics on her sleeping place as she headed towards the kitchen.  
She didn't usually sleep on the couch, Gav and Michael had been in a 'mood' the previous night, and having to listen to the two of them banging through paper thin walls? No thank you.

Ray picked up her purple hoodie from the back of a kitchen chair as she passed, tugging it on. The apartment was still a bit chilly, the way Gavenia kept the thermostat at about sixty, even though it was hot as balls outside. 

She turned on the coffee pot and perched on the counter as she began detangling her long braid.

"Is Michael still sleeping?" She asked her roommate, who shook her head before yawning. 

"Left early. He had to work. I'm supposed to be in in an hour." Gav grunted as she stretched, her short dirty blonde hair sticking up in some places at odd angles. 

Ray nodded a bit, tugging at a stubborn knot. It wasn't like she didn't like Michael. He just seemed weirdly secretive. She couldn't get any information out of Michael or Gavenia about their work, and it was a little nerve wracking for someone who had to wonder about the people they lived with. 

The whistling of the kettle drew Ray out of her thoughts, and she watched as Gav removed it from the burner and poured it into a mug with a tea bag before taking it and wandering back to her room.  
This wasn't so unusual for Gav, Ray thought. She often came home with bruises and exhaustion, and she would suspect Michael if he didn't hold the same wounds whenever he was seen.

Ray sighed, making herself a cup of coffee before glancing at the clock once more and deciding that she should probably start getting ready for work herself. She worked at Gamestop, and thankfully, it was a short walk.  
Driving in this city just wasn't an option for the girl.  
She didn't take long to ready herself for the day, putting on a pair of torn up jeans, checkered Vans and her uniform shirt, tying her hair up in a messy bun before tossing a few things in her backpack and heading out of the door a few minutes early, knowing that she'd have to stop by the bank, her most favoritest place ever.  
Can you feel the sarcasm?  
If she knew then what was going to happen to her that day, she never would have left her house.  
_-_-_-_-_-_-_  
Ray had been standing in line at the Los Santos City Bank for far too long, and she'd had to call in and tell Miles that she'd be late. He'd been cool with it, informing her that things were slow anyways; none of their regulars had shown up. A little strange, but nothing to worry about, they had probably all magically gotten jobs and stopped living with their mothers. Wonderful. 

"That's mean, Ray." Miles pretended he was disgusted at the joke, but he was obviously grinning as he said it. 

"Whatever, you love me." She replied, stepping forward instinctively when she felt a presence behind her, writing it off as another patron joining the queue. 

"Maybe. Just hurry up, okay? It's lonely." The man said, and Ray laughed softly, opening her mouth to speak, but freezing as she felt something press against her ribs.

"Hang up the phone." The deep male voice sounded in her ear, and the feeling of terror settled over her like a blanket of snow. She did as the man said, raising her hands up slowly.

"Sorry about this, babe."  
Two shots rang out, and it took a moment for Ray to realize that she was fine, though everyone was screaming. She had doubled over in fear, trying to drop to the floor, but an arm was suddenly around her shouldrs, pulling her upright and forcing the hot muzzle of a pistol to her temple.  
Out of the corner of her eye, Ray could see him, just barely. His face was covered by a mask that could have been deemed a bit childish in any other situation, but here, the leather skull mask was scaring the shit out of the hostage. His gloved hand tightened around her shoulder, and she let out a soft whimper. 

"Alright, boys, this place is all yours." Skull-Guy called out, and suddenly, the sounds of broken glass filled the air, making Ray flinch and try to shy away, but she was held firm.  
She felt like she was gonna barf, her stomach in knots and her heart pounding. She squeezed her eyes shut as gun shots punctured the air, some of them very close to her ear. She may or may not have screamed and tried to get away, only to feel the metal being pressed back to her head.

"Ah, ah-" The assailant tutted softly in her ear, making her squeeze her eyes shut tighter.  
"Behave, or you're not gonna make it as a hostage. You'll be dead. Believe me, I don't want to kill you, there's a shortage of cute girls who know how to shut the fuck up."

Was he fucking serious right now? Was he seriously doing the fucking villain thing with the deep voice and the scare tactics? Because it was working!  
Ray opened her eyes and regretted it immediately.  
Everyone that had been in the building now lay dead on the fancy marble floor, blood making quite a mess. The teller's counters were occupied by two other people; one, a woman, dressed all in black and wearing dark glasses, and the other, a man in similar clothing, but wearing a beanie over his red curls. Both were stuffing money in duffle bags.  
Wait... they looked really fucking familiar. But that was not a priority right now. Now, it was time to grovel.

"Oh fuck. Please, don't kill me, man, I'll do anything you want." Ray found herself begging for her life, tears streaming down her cheeks. What the fuck had she done to deserve this? 

"Vagabond, you heard the Boss. No hostages. No witnesses." The man called, and Skull-Guy, Vagabond, snorted.

"I'm not deaf, Michael." He spat, and Ray felt her legs shake. 

"W-what? H-Hang on, Michael?!" 

The two henchmen froze suddenly, and Ray felt Vagabond's grip tighten around her, his hand sliding up her throat now. 

The female hopped down from the counter, and hurried towards the hostage and the man holding her. 

"Bloody hell. Ray?!" 

"Gavenia? What the fuck?" Ray was terrified and confused, and to be honest, that gun to the head was really starting to bother her.

"Ryan, you can't kill her. Just... put her out, she has to come back with us." Michael was there quickly, and Ray was honestly kind if surprised that he was defending her. But still.  
"Hey, woah, let's hold up. What the fuck does 'put out' mean? Because you guys could just let me go!" She pled, her eyes locking onto Gav, who seemed to be somewhere between afraid and guilty. 

"I don't want to hurt you, just hold still." Skull-Guy/Vagabond/Ryan was being much more gentle with her now, but the girl could see Michael trading Ryan's gun for something. Before she could question it, a rag was being forced over her face and she cried out. She tried to struggle, but Ryan was far too strong. She could vaguely make out Gav's voice trying to comfort her, but the edges of her vision were fading rapidly. The last words she heard were a very distinct -  
"We are mother fucking boned."  
_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Ray woke to a throbbing in her skull.  
Not just a headache, oh no. It was a full blown, head-bashed-in-with-a-baseball-bat throbbing migraine.  
She groaned, sitting up, her eyes still closed tightly before she rubbed her face as if that would wipe away the pain.  
She wanted to keep blocking out her surroundings, but in the back of her splitting head, she remembered what had happened at the bank.  
Gavenia and Michael... they were robbing that place. That's why she could never get anything about their jobs...  
And they worked with the guy who had held a gun to her head. They'd called him Vagabond, but they'd also said Ryan.  
Fuck, she was so confused. Her stomach turned over, and she felt bile rising in her throat. Her eyes flew open and she looked around frantically before seeing a trash bin across the room, near the door.  
Launching herself across the hardwood floor, she grabbed the can and emptied the contents of her stomach into it.  
When she'd finished, she was still breathing hard, but the headache was subsiding a bit, so she leaned against the wall and tried to catch her breath.  
She was going to be fine. There was no reason for them to kill her, right? They'd have killed her if they wanted her dead. 

As she leaned her head back against the drywall, she could hear voices drifting from another room.

"Geoff, we can't kill her, she's our friend!" That was Gav's voice, obviously troubled. They were talking about her. Great. 

"Well, then, what do you propose we do with her? She knows your identities, she could tell the cops about us!" An unidentified male voice arose, and was met by a squawk of indignation from Gav. 

"Is there a skill we could teach her? Maybe we could make her one of us?" Another man's voice, this one Ray recognized as being Michael's, suggested. 

"Like what, pissing herself under pressure?" Geoff asked, and another woman's voice, not Gav, laughed. 

"According to Ryan, she's got that down." She said, and there was a moment of silence. 

"Ryan could teach her. She could be a sniper. No, don't look at me like that, I'm serious! I've seen her with a fly swatter, she never misses." Gav was speaking, trying to reason with the others.

"A fly swatter isn't a sniper rifle, Gavenia." The other woman replied. 

"Jack's right, Gav. What makes you think Ryan would want to train her anyway? He doesn't do the whole rookie thing. Besides, he's not here, and we don't know when he's coming back." Michael said, and Ray could almost hear the betrayl.

"He's coming back in a few hours. Let's just... assess the kid and see where we can go. I can order Ryan to work with her, but I can't be held responsible if he kills her." Geoff sounds exhausted, and Ray finally clambers to her feet, fidgeting with the doorknob for a moment before wrenching open the heavy oak door.  
This apartment wasn't hers, it was clear to her, but she didn't really care. Michael and Gav- Well... Michael, at the very least- were there to protect her. 

All fell silent as the girl walked down the hall, her feet bare and her glasses slightly askew. The floor was cold under her toes, and as she entered the living space, she was instantly internally terrified, but she stood up straight and put on a tough face. 

There were four of them, two sitting in armchairs, two hovering over a large desk. Gav and Michael rose from their seats as soon as Ray stepped into the room, the woman at her bespectacled friend's side in a matter or seconds. Ray guessed that the long legs had their perks. 

"Ray, thank God you're awake, I was so worried about you!" Gav descended on the smaller woman in an attempted hug, but Ray shook her off. The taller backed away with a look of confusion on her face, but it melted into understanding as she thought for a moment.  
"What the fuck? You owe me a fucking explaination!" It spilled put before she could stop it, and suddenly, the two at the desk were looking up.  
An older man with a wicked mustache and a well fitted suit scowled, and the woman beside him brushed her red hair from her eyes before stepping around the desk and towards Ray.  
The girl instinctively backed away a bit, throwing up her hands as if she was about to karate chop the shit out of someone.  
The guy behind the desk, whom Ray had deduced was Geoff, chuckled as he glanced up, and shook his head.

"Seriously? Ray, calm down. No one here is gonna hurt you, okay?" Michael soothed, but Ray only shot him a glare. 

"Michael, please, allow me. Ray, my name is Jack, and Geoff and I are the leaders of the Fake AH Crew. Your friends, Gavenia and Michael, work with us. We don't want to hurt you, but if you try to run and squeal to the cops, it will not end well for you. Do you understand?"

Ray was struck silent, for she noticed that not three feet away from the red haired woman, there was a coffee table. And on that coffee table, there was an array of guns. Hand guns, shotguns, rifles, and some guns that Ray had no idea what they were, which was strange, because the girl devoted much of her free time to researching weaponry. For science, of course.  
Jack followed her gaze, and smirked, reaching back and picking up a pistol from the table, cocking it and aiming at Ray's head.

The girl froze, her heart nearly stopping. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Gav lunge forward, only to be caught by Michael and held back. Geoff came over to stand beside Jack, watching with curious eyes. 

"Are you afraid?" Jack asked, and Ray stood rigid as a statue, her heart thudding in her chest before suddenly having an epiphany. 

"No." She answered, feeling bold, but praying that this was going to work.  
Jack looked perplexed, but didn't lower her gun. 

"No?" She asked, and Ray shook her head. 

"What good would it do you to kill me? You could have killed me in my sleep if you wanted to. Right?" She glanced at her friends, who looked both anxious and proud.  
Jack stared at the girl thoughtfully, and for a moment, Ray thought she might put the gun back. Instead, Jack pulled the trigger, and Ray's eyes widened with horror.  
There was a snap and a pop, but no pain followed the noise. The gun wasn't loaded. 

Jack laughed, low and deep in her chest as Ray let out the strangled cry that she'd been holding in, sounding like a disgruntled whale. The others chuckled lightly at Ray, who just stood there. 

"W-why? I don't... I... I'm going home!" And with that, she was walking towards the door. That is, until a strong hand shot out, trapping her by the bicep on an iron grasp. Though he was small, Geoff was strong as hell. 

"Not a good idea. How about you just stay here? You know a little too much for comfort."  
Ray was already trying to pull away when Gavenia stepped in, leaning forward and whispering something in the man's ear. Though hesitant, Geoff released her arm and she stepped back, rubbing at the marks thst would surely bruise. At least they'd match the rest of her, right?  
With a venomous glare, her head still spinning from all the events of the day, Ray spun on her heel and headed to the main door to the apartment. 

"I told you she wouldn't have the balls to join." She head Michael say to the others. She stopped, squaring her shoulders.  
Insult her personality.  
Insult her hair.  
But never. EVER. Insult her lady balls.

Against the voice in her head that was screaming at her to do otherwise, Ray turned back and silently picked up a handgun from the table, loading it and aiming it carefully at the open penthouse window which was about sixty feet away from her. A row of flowerpots with dead plants in them took up residence on the sill, but not for much longer. Ray pulled the trigger three times, each time a bang and an explosion of ceramic met her action. When she'd finished, she set the gun back down and walked out of the apartment without a word and feeling like a total badass.

Ray was barefoot, hot, and incredibly confused and lost as she headed out onto the busy city streets, and she found that her phone was missing too. Shit, her whole backpack! That had her wallet, her phone, her keys... But she couldn't go back now, not after being that fucking awesome.  
She'd talk to the landlord again, he was always there, spying on the chicks who lived in his apartment complex.  
Ray was so focused on finding out where she was that she didn't even hear the semi truck coming, she wasn't watching or thinking as she stepped into the road, her arms crossed and her head down. She'd made it halfway before the blaring horn jarred her from her thoughts, and by then it was too late.  
That is, until Ray felt someone grab her by the waist and haul her out of the way into safety, and she watched as the truck screamed past before looking up at her savior.  
It was an older man with gorgeous eyes, the color of the sea after a storm. Those and his blonde hair made him look like a freaking angel.

"What the fuck are you doing outside?"

The voice made Ray's blood run cold and she instantly wrenched out of his grip. 

"You! You're the... stay away from me, I swear, I'll-" 

"You'll what?" Ryan crossed his arms and watched with a bemused expression. 

"Hey, listen up, smartass, I'm-" Ray didn't get out much more before her bare foot slipped over the curb and she stumbled back, landing on her ass in the street.  
Ryan burst out laughing, but only for a moment before he was hauling Ray back up to her feet. 

"Don't make a habit of getting hurt, I'm not gonna make a habit of saving you." He said, crossing his arms. Ray let out a snort of indignation and rolled her eyes before beginning to stalk down the street, hoping the man wouldn't follow her. 

"Where do you think you're going?" 

Dammit.

"Home." Ray snarled, not looking at him.  
"You know they want you to train me, right? They want me to be their sniper." 

It was Ryan's turn to let out a snort, still matching the girl's pace. 

"You? A sniper? Like hell you are. Besides, I'd probably end up killing you." He said, surveying her as if she was a bug he considered squashing. Ray cast a glance at the man, wary of him. 

"I believe it. Asshole." She muttered under her breath. "Will you quit following me? I don't want you to know where I live. You are literally the last thing I want showing up at my door." 

Ryan was silent for a moment and as Ray looked at him, she saw that he had his phone in hand, a muscle in his jaw twitching furiously. A bit more nosy observation revealed that he'd just recieved a text from Geoff. Ray could see the words 'pick up' and 'take home' as well as her own name before Ryan was shoving her out of his business. 

"Well, now I know you weren't lying. But I'm still probably going to kill you if you get on my nerves." 

"Gee, thanks, I feel so much better." Ray muttered, looking back at him once more as Ryan's phone buzzed again. This time, the man stopped, growled something unintelligible, and turned, storming back towards the Fake AH Crew's apartment building.  
Well, no way in hell was she going back there willingly. 

Ray made her way home, thankful thst she hadn't been brought to the shady neighborhood and that she could actually walk home without being mugged and left for dead. It was actually a semi nice place.

It was dark when Ray reached her home, and she ignored her obnoxious landlord as she climbed the cold metal stairs. She was just exhausted, and pissed off, and she prayed that maybe she hadn't locked her door that morning, or maybe Gav had come home-  
That was unlikely.  
As she made the trek up to the sixteenth floor, she was groaning to herself, thinking about what she would do when she made ot inside. The possibility of having to descend and ascend those stairs again weighed heavy on her mind as she stopped at the top to catch her breath, but in the flickering, dim lighting of the hall, Ray could see something on the welcome mat. Upon closer inspection, the girl allowed herself to smile as she recognized the Animal Crossing patterned satchel that sat before her door, and as she picked it up, something fell out of the bag and fell to the floor. Ray had already jammed her keys into the hole and opened the door before she leaned down to see what it was.  
On the floor was a box.  
A box of candy.  
And on that box, there was a post it note.

"Dinner." It read, and Ray snorted, flipping the note over.

"Shipyard. Saturday. 1 A.M. Do NOT be late. ~Ryan."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Ray saw Ryan again before she was scheduled to, but the two hardly spoke. It turns out that Ryan had two personalities. One was the one she'd previously met. Vagabond, the bloodthirsty psychopath with the murder problem. The other, however, was the man's true nature. He was quiet and reserved, shy, and Ray would venture to say that he was even nice to her. 

The girl had gone back to the Crew's apartment at Gavenia's request, seriously doubting it when the blonde had claimed that she needed help with making a key. Sure. 

She'd knocked on the door lightly and before she'd even finished, it was being flung open and she was being dragged inside by an overexcited Gav. 

"Thank goodness, I didn't know if you were actually going to come. Sit down, the kettle is on." She shoved Ray towards the sitting area, where, to her dismay, Ryan was comfortably sprawled across an armchair, watching the interaction with curious eyes. Great. 

Ray silently plopped into the free chair and pulled out her 3DS, beginning to awkwardly play Ocarina of Time, though she could feel the blonde man's eyes on her.  
She'd thought about him quite a lot. About her mixed feelings and his murderous tendencies. She tentatively decided that she was both intrigued and afraid of him. He was very cute, he'd saved her life from an oncoming truck, and she was sure that with a little practice, he could learn to have a conversation without threatening her.  
All the same, he had held a gun to her head. And knocked her out with chloroform.  
But that was in the past, right?

"What are you playing?" 

The voice made Ray jump, realizing that- 1) Ryan was speaking to her, and 2) She'd just be slaughtered by Stalchildren in Hyrule Field. She looked over at Ryan, who looked calm, collected, but a little different. As if his aura had changed, he seemed a bit more reserved, as if it had taken a great deal of effort on his part to start a conversation. 

"Oh, uh... Legend of Zelda." Ray answered, motioning with the DS. 

"Majora's Mask?" Ryan spoke again, standing up and going around the back of Ray's chair to lean over her shoulder. 

"Ocarina of Time." She replied, restarting the game and trying to focus as she left the forest once again, and ventured back into the field, ever aware of the blue eyes just behind her, the soft breath at the base of her neck making concentration nearly impossible. It was nightfall before she knew it, and the gate to Hyrule was closing. She sighed, fighting off two Stalchildren before Ryan piped up again. 

"Play the Sun's Song?" He offered, and Ray blushed when she realized she hadn't thought of that. Mashing the combination of Y, R, and A, the night turned to day and the cuckoo crowed. Ray looked up at Ryan, and smiled sheepishly, having not realized how close their faces were.  
"Thanks." She mumbled. Ryan seemed just as awkward as she, and nodded. 

"Am I interrupting?" Gavenia asked as she entered the room, and in an instant, Ryan fled the room like a startled Pokemon, leaving Ray with a twinge of disappointment in her chest. She turned to Gav, who frowned a bit. 

"Huh." 

"Huh? He was actually being nice to me, Gav! Yes, you were interrupting!" Ray said sharply, snapping the console in her hand shut. Gavenia apologized, handing Ray a mug and sitting in the now free armchair. 

"He's not in Vagabond mode right now. That's why he's being nice. His natural personality is much nicer, I think. He didn't threaten to kill you?" Gav sipped her tea, and Ray only shook her head, looking down at her mug. 

"Well, now he's got to be watched until we need him for a heist. See, he's got this thing... Where he has two personalities. It isn't hard to learn them, you just need to not step on his toes." 

Ray nodded, listening carefully.  
"Okay, I guess that's not as bad as him being a dick all the time... But I'm pretty sure you didn't ask me to come here to talk about Ryan."  
Gav nodded quickly as Ray drew her knees up to her chest and balanced her cup atop them. 

"Geoff wanted me to talk to you about the position he offered you. He was really impressed, but he told me that if you try to be a smart ass, he'd shoot you in the head." Gav said it like it was no big deal, but Ray froze, her jaw dropping.  
"What?! Why the fuck would he do that?!"

Gav waved her hand, dismissing the words.  
"He usually doesn't mean it. I wouldn't worry too much..." She trailed off, a strange look on her face as she glanced at the door. She got up, checking the plans on the desk, then poking her head out of the door before sitting back down, crossing her legs.  
The taller woman seemed severely distracted.  
"Gav?" Ray asked quietly as she sat back down. 

"What? Nothing. I'm fine." Gavenia waved her off, but Ray only sighed and crossed her arms. Gav rubbed her forearm, and took a deep breath. 

"It's just... Michael and Geoff and Jack went out on a job this morning and they haven't come home yet. I can't help but feel like something terrible happened to them. Not that I don't think they couldn't get out of it, I just..." Gav poured out her thoughts, and Ray couldn't think of very much to say.

"Don't they get into these sorts of situations a lot? Don't they know what to do?" The girl asked. Gav nodded, wringing her hands.

"They were going to see a drug lord. What if they killed them?!" She asked, her mouth falling opening. 

"Hey, you know that's not possible. They're badasses." Ray offered sheepishly.

Gavenia worried on for an hour more, Ray doing her best to soothe the other girl, but it became apparent that it was not going to work. The dark haired girl gave her farewell, and as she was leaving the penthouse, she noticed Ryan hesitantly rounding the corner from the hallways, joining Gav in the living room, and waving goodbye to Ray.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Ray was late on Saturday, arriving a full half hour late. The shipyards were big, what could she say?  
Not to mention the sailors swarming the area, even at the late hour. Huge metal crates were being hoisted into the air and loaded onto cargo haulers, and men who didn't really look like sailors were busy, running around like chickens with their heads cut off. Ray had been wandering around in the shadows, wondering where Ryan could be when she felt a hand cover her mouth from behind, cutting off the scream that would have fallen from her lips.  
Slowly, she was released, and she turned around rapidly, her fists up, ready to punch someone when she saw the golden haired man with a smirk on his face. Ray sighed in exasperation before a hand took her by the wrist, hauling her along like she was a child. She had to take twice as many steps as the man who was leading her.  
They scurried between crates, keeping low to avoid any detection by the men who were wandering about aimlessly, though Ray could tell, upon further inspection, that each was heavily armed. Ryan guided her in the darkness to a warehouse, where they climbed up rickety metal stairs to the roof, where a small station had been set up. Ryan released the girl, and picked up a large case, flicking open the latch and beckoning Ray to his side. She hesitantly followed, jumping back when Ryan pulled a rather large gun from the case.

"Calm down, I'm not gonna shoot you. I'm not in the mood. You, however, you're gonna shoot someone." Ryan said, beginning to set the sniper rifle up at the edge of the rooftop, laying on his stomach to check the scope. Ray watched, kneeling down in the gravel beside him.  
"Who am I shooting?"  
Hang on, was she getting into this? Did she just ask that?  
She didn't get long to contemplate because there was suddenly a hand on her arm, and she was being hauled down onto her soft belly, successfully getting a mouthful of gravel as she did so. She spat out the tiny rocks, glaring at Ryan, who looked halfway between amused and concerned.  
She noticed his blue eyes trailing over her semi exposed chest and legs, and she felt a rush of heat in her cheeks.

"First of all, wear clothes that you can run in. Jeans and a hoodie. If your clothes get in the way, you're hindered. If you aren't at one hundred percent, you're at zero." Ryan's eyes were back on the scope, and Ray frowned, tugging up the collar of her shirt self consciously.

"Hm. Come here." The man scooted over a bit, and Ray sighed, sliding up beside him. He didn't move any further as she tucked herself beside him. He held himself up above her just slightly, looking over her. 

"Alright, kid. See the guy walking around down there?" 

"There are a lot of guys down there." Ray said sarcastically, earning a swift kick to the ankle. 

"The one smoking the cigar, dumbass." Ryan grunted, and Ray heaved herself up onto her elbows to look through the scope. She spotted the man he was speaking of, and she nodded. 

"Who is he?" She asked, looking up at her mentor, who moved just a bit to lay beside her, the soft breeze ruffling his hair as he shrugged. 

"Does it matter?" Ryan asked, and Ray frowned. 

"I just want to know who's life I'm ending." 

"It doesn't matter. Put a bullet in his head." 

"Wait, I can't just-" 

"You will, if you want to be part of our crew, got it? You don't get to ask questions, you do what you're told when you're told." Ryan was deathly calm when he said it, and it made a chill run up Ray's spine. Too many people she'd met like that. Not all of them had been murderers, and she'd been plenty scared of them. 

"Fine." Ray turned back to the scope, aiming and taking a deep breath before pulling the trigger, taking the recoil in her shoulder, not making a sound. It wasn't that much of a kick, and the gun was virtually silent.  
All the same, she'd missed the man by about ten feet. 

"Are you fucking kidding me." Ryan muttered, shaking his head. 

"Shut up, I got this." Ray found herself desperate to prove her abilities to this man, and she aimed again, adjusting her body along with the gun.  
She took the shot, and...  
Missed again. 

"They're getting suspicious, we need to move." 

"No, I can do this! Just wait, please! One more!" Ray pleaded, but Ryan was firm, getting to his feet and grabbing her by the back of the shirt. Damn, he was adamant.  
Well, so was she.  
She realigned herself, against Ryan's warnings, which were growing more and more violent, and took the shot. The man collapsed, dead in a heap. Ray didn't even have time to appreciate her victory before she was being dragging backwards, the rocks cutting into her exposed stomach before she was hauled to her feet. A blunt force met her jaw, and she was thrown to the ground with a cry of pain.  
"You didn't fucking follow orders, you idiot! They know where we are, and things just got a fuckton harder!" Ryan shouted at her, shaking out his hand before running back to the set up, picking up the gun as a briefcase that had been sitting nearby.  
Ray slowly climbed to her feet, a bit dazed as she spit out a mouthful of blood. She nearly fell on her ass when Ryan threw the sniper rifle at her, glaring like he might strangle her.  
"Meet you back at the apartment, moron." He spat, running past her, and leaping down the fire escape.  
Ray hadn't noticed before, but there was shouting and commotion down below; Obviously, the sailors had noticed the dead man.  
What the fuck was she supposed to do?  
She stood there for a moment before slinging the gun across her back and doing what she knew.  
She ran like hell.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Ray could hear shouting as she approached the Penthouse door, but she didn't give a fuck.  
She practically kicked the door down as she stormed in, limping a bit and a pretty purple bruise blooming across her cheek.  
The Crew- all of them, except the notably absent Gavenia- were congregated in the living room, and at the noise of the door opening, they all turned, and Geoff swore under his breath, taking his wallet out of his pocket and thumbing out a few bills, handing them to Jack, who smirked.  
Ryan was sat in a chair, looking exhausted and pissed off. Three hours had passed since the ordeal, and he wasn't the only one who was pissed off.  
Before she could say anything, though, Michael crossed the room and stared at her for a moment before punching her in the shoulder sharply.  
"Ow! Come on, I am so fucking sick of-" 

"Gav is out there looking for you, fucktard!" He said, making Ray wince a bit as she rubbed her arm, looking like a kicked puppy. 

"Michael, stand down." The voice of the leader was enough to make Michael step back, still surveying his friend for any wounds.

Geoff stepped up to Ray, taking her chin and tilting her face upwards to meet his eyes. He studied her for a moment, frowning slightly as his eyes landed on the bruise. 

"Vagabond." He said firmly, turning. Ryan- well, now Vagabond-, was pretending to study his nails when Geoff called him, but he glanced up. 

"She didn't listen to me. So I left her sorry ass there." He shrugged nonchalantly.

"Did you neutralize the target?" Geoff asked Ray, who nodded quickly. 

"Then you passed my test. You just need to work on your listening skills, kid. In the meantime, Vagabond, go to your room. You don't need to be out here right now if you're gonna be beating my new kids up." Geoff said firmly, looking back as the blonde man growled, rising and storming down the hallway furiously. Jack sighed as the door slammed, but Geoff just shook his head. 

Ray chewed her lip nervously, as if she feared the man would come back. Michael rested a hand on hers in a comforting fashion, but it didn't last long as the door was flung open, and an infuriated woman stomped inside the apartment. She walked straight up to Ray, placing a hand on her shoulder as if she was going to hug her, but no.  
Gavenia punched her hard in the stomach, making Ray groan in agony, dropping to the floor and curling up in the fetal position.  
"Mother f-" She wheezed.  
"Does anyone else need to take out their anger on me, or should I just curl up and die?"

Geoff looked around before kicking Ray lightly with the toe of his shoe.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"You're wearing the Kevlar vest Jack gave you?"

"For the fifth time, yes!" 

"Don't get smart with me, may I remind you that you are already on my bad side?! Is one incident not enough for you?!" 

Gav and Ray were squabbling again and trying to get ready for Ray's third heist at the same time, though it was supremely unproductive. Ray was all dressed in jeans and a tight black hooded shirt, her Kevlar over top of it.  
The incident to which Gav was referring had taken place that morning, though it wasn't nearly as bad as Gav was making it out to be. She'd run to the store at the ass crack of dawn, since she'd gone to survey the drug dealer's home that was the target of the operation for that day beforehand. Ray had spent the night at the Penthouse for some long overdue quality time with her friends, (which really just meant playing Halo until they passed out).  
Herself and Michael had gotten up with Gavenia, as they were supposed to go with her, but when they stumbled around with exhausted faces, and Michael couldn't even tie his shoes, Gav made the decision to leave them home.  
However, when she came back, she was in utter disbelief, because when she walked in the door, the first thing she laid eyes on was Michael and Ray, curled up together in one chair, sound asleep.  
It would have been adorable, if it hadn't been Gavenia's boyfriend with his arms around someone else. This immediately led into a screaming match that would everyone up, which morphed into Michael holding Gav back, and Ryan having to pick Ray up and carry her out of the room to keep her from clawing Gav's eyes out. 

Ryan wasn't in Vagabond mode on this particular day, and the man was being left out of the mission because of it. It wasn't a bad thing, and, really, Ray preferred Ryan to Vagabond. Ryan was sweet, and sarcastic, and he was slowly becoming the first person she turned to. Although, he was no help in the training department; He refused to lay a hand on Ray. 

Gavenia and Ray made their way to the armory, which was just a room filled with obscene amounts of weaponry, including Ray's new favorite. Her customized high impact sniper rifle. It was bubblegum pink, and she loved it. She picked it up quickly, slinging it over her shoulder and heading out of the room, promising to meet Gav in the living room to go over plans with Geoff and Michael, who were running with them today.  
As Ray left the room, she paused, turning her head to see Ryan hovering outside of the doorway, as if he'd been waiting for her.  
"Hey, Rye-bread. What's up?" Ray smiled, and Ryan rolled his eyes at the nickname.  
"I just wanted to let you know... Er." Ryan s hesitated a moment, and Ray frowned, opening her mouth to speak, but stopping as the tall man lurched forward, pressing a sweet, soft kiss to her lips. Ray froze up, her fingers curling into fists and her shoulders squaring. Her brain was racing, trying to figure out exactly how to respond, because she was really enjoying being in close proximity to him.  
Ryan pulled back after a moment, his eyes tracing over Ray's dumbstruck face before awkwardly clearing his throat.  
"Good luck. Don't get shot today." He said before turning around and going into the control room, leaving the awkward girl standing outside of the armory.

"W-why does everyone think I'm gonna get shot?" 

_-_-_-_-_-_-_ 

Ray laid on her stomach, one eye closed as she watched carefully. She'd learned a few things over the month or so she'd been with the Crew, and one of those was that she looked out for her own people. Headshots brought a rush of satisfaction in her gut, and they kept her friends alive. 

"Ray, do you read?" The crackling voice came over the earpiece. 

"Loud and clear, Geoff." The girl mumbled, shifting a bit. The four were in the ghetto of Los Santos; Ray on top of a condemned building, the roof caving in under her, Gav and Michael were heading the operation, both dressed like druggies so as to blend in, and Geoff was on the street corner, just outside the impoverished house, acting as a line between Gav and Michael.

"You got eyes on them, kid?" Geoff asked, and Ray could see by him give a gesture through the scope. It could have been a thumbs up, it could have been a middle finger, all the same.

"Don't call me kid. And yes, I have eyes. Plus I'm only like, a hundred feet away. Tell them to stop making out on the porch." 

As if they'd heard her, the two broke apart and Gav straightened her shirt before giving Ray a wave and knocking on the door. 

From her angle, the sniper was covered, shielded from sight, but she had a good view inside the house. It was the runner's job to lure the kingpin outside, and it was Ray's job to eliminate the target. Easy. She'd grown accustomed to it. 

Silently, her eyes followed, flickering between Geoff and her friends as the screen door swung open, and a gun was on Michael and Gavenia, who both raised their hands in surrender. 

"Geoff. The guy's got a gun on them." Ray informed their leader quickly, shifting uncomfortably. 

"Easy, Ray. He's just the bouncer. Everything is going according to plan." He replied, his voice soothing. 

She fell silent again as she watched carefully, her finger floating over the trigger. After what seemed like ages, the gun was taken away, and a man in a suit replaced the 'bouncer'. 

"That's our man, Ray. I'm going in. Stay where you are, and as soon as you get the shot, take it, you got me?"

"I gotcha, Geoff. Be careful." 

The older man rounded the corner, hurrying up the streets. He wore baggy jeans and a hoodie, and he looked like a real addict. Although, as he approached the house, Ray couldn't hear the conversation, she could only watch the interaction with bated breath and an itchy trigger finger.  
Then the action started. Suddenly there was a gun in Geoff's hands, but the drug dealer wasn't an idiot, because he grabbed Gav, putting the gun under her chin, but he didn't have time to even thing about pulling the trigger because his brains were suddenly splattered against the back wall. 

"Fuck yeah, bitches." Ray muttered, and apparently the others heard because cheering could be heard on the other end. 

"Is everyone okay down there?" She asked, and the others gave their signals before rushing into the building, carrying on with the rest of the heist. She kept watch until the others exited the building, duffle bags slung across their backs as they split up, each disappearing down their own separate alleyway. They would all rendezvous at the checkpoint, which just so happened to be a coffee shop downtown, where Jack would be waiting with the car.  
Ray packed up her gear, placing her gun in its discreet case before standing up. The roof gave an audible groan, and the girl found her mistake far too late as the dilapidated wood gave out beneath her. It was a good twenty foot fall, landing on her side and knocking the air out of her lungs. She heard the thunk of her gun landing beside her, and she sat up, shaking away the stars that danced over her vision. Taking inventory, she realized that she wasn't hurt, save for scraped knees and bruises that would surely show later.  
At least she didn't get shot, right?

"Ray, do you copy?" 

The voice actually made her jump, but she sighed, getting to her feet and brushing herself off. 

"Loud and clear, Geoff. I'm on my way." She said, picking up her case and slinging it over her shoulder, limping out of the building and onto the street.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Ray took her sweet time getting to the shop, and after about half an hour, she finally showed up, spotting her group in the back. She ignored the looks that she got from her people as she sat down next to Geoff, who hardly acknowledged her beyond a pat on the back, and the allowance of her head on his shoulder. They wouldn't talk about the heist until later, when they were back at the apartment, and that was fine with her. Michael slid a cup over to her, hos eyes searching and questioning as he saw the scrapes and scratches on her body, but she shook her head, taking the mug and sipping out of it silently.  
Geoff draped his arm across Ray's shoulder, hardly looking up as Jack showed up, sitting across from Gav and nodding at the group.  
"How was work?" She asked, and Ray smirked, setting down her cup. 

"Boring. As usual, Jack."

The small group made their way to the apartment, settling into comfort. Ray borrowed a pair of shorts and a tee shirt from Gav, putting on her own hoodie and heading to the control room, as Ryan hadn't met them at the door.  
The apartment was rather large, it was really like an office building. There were offices that had been converted into bedrooms, a kitchen, and several blacked out rooms, like Control, Heist Ops, and the Armory, to name just a few. There was also a lounge, and a game room, where Ray spent a lot of time, when she wasn't in the main room.  
She wasn't allowed in the control room, but neither were Gav or Michael, so she knew it wasn't personal. After Ray had dropped off her gun to the Armory, she banged on the reinforced metal door.  
"Yo, Ryan, you in there? We brought back pizza, and if you don't come get some, Geoff's gonna-" She cut off suddenly as the door swung open, Ryan stepping out and shutting it behind him. 

"Hey, I assume it went well?" He asked, inspecting her, frowning at the bruises that littered her legs and arms, along with the scrapes and scratches. He always seemed so upset when she got hurt, even just a little bit.  
"I didn't get shot, ass hole, so yeah." Ray smiled, stepping back so she wasn't invading his personal space. 

"What happened?" Ryan asked, looking as id he'd like to follow her, but he leaned back against the door instead.

"Well, I was up on the roof, and the guy grabbed Gavenia and tried to shoot her, but the dickhead didn't get the chance." She grinned with pride, crossing her arms over her chest. 

"I meant with your leg. Don't talk about that shit." The man warned, and Ray bit her lip. She'd forgotten about Ryan's tick. She wasn't supposed to talk about murder when he wasn't in Vagabond mode, unless she wanted to get punched. It sucked, and it was annoying, but she couldn't do anything about it.

"I fell, but I'm fine. My ankle's just a little swollen." Ray said, looking down at her purplish appendage. It definitely wasn't broken, maybe just sprained. 

"You shouldn't be walking on it." Ryan said, and suddenly he was grabbing Ray, and throwing her over his shoulder. She gave a squeal, struggling hopelessly for a moment, but giving up as she realized that falling would suck from this height. 

"Bastard." Ray muttered as the man carried her into the main room. When the rest of the crew saw the two, Ray wasn't able to see anyone's reactions, but she let out a loud squeak as she felt a hand slap her ass, and laughter broke out as she kicked, trying to hit whoever had hit her, but she met nothing.  
"Geoff, don't be rude. You're offending Ryan." Jack's sweet voice rang out, and suddenly Ray was being dropped into a chair, and Ryan was heading into the kitchen with his head down and a blush on his cheeks.  
_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"You ready, Ray? We're waiting on you." Ryan's voice came from behind the closed door.  
About three months had passed since the heist when Ray fell, and she'd been on two since then. This was the first job that Jack had given her where she'd be directly involved.  
The girl stood in front of the room that had become hers, although she didn't permanently live there. Geoff had hinted at allowing her residence, and Ryan had had an argument with the leader about it, ultimately resulting in a huge ass fight. It jist wasn't worth the chaos for Ray.  
She looked in the mirror once more, running her hands over her sides again, the too short black dress ending mid thigh, strapless and showing off way more than she ever would, had it not been for this dumb job.  
She had to seduce the leader of a rival crew, and do anything it took.  
Ray remembered when Geoff had given her the job. He'd first offered it to Gav, who proceeded to trip over her own feet. Jack wasn't the type for seduction, so that left Ray, who had no choice. Gav had looked worried, but Michael had teased her, asking how the hell she planned on seducing anyone. And Ryan... He'd looked pissed off. Betrayed, even. He'd gotten up and left the room, and the next time she saw him, he was Vagabond. 

The banging on the door jerked Ray back from her thoughts, and she sighed, picking up the clutch purse that held her phone, some cash, and a small handgun. All the essentials. She opened the bedroom door, smirking as Vagabond looked her up and down.  
"Damn, I am ready to be someone's mistake tonight." She grinned, and the man rolled his eyes.  
"You look good. You'd look better if-" He cut off and shook his head.  
"Never mind. Come on. Geoff's waiting."

Ray frowned, watching him go, adjusting the strap on her hooker heels before hurrying after him.  
Michael and Gavenia were at the desk this time, pouring over the plans, and Geoff sat in the armchair, bent over the coffee table as he adjusted the guns, rifles, knives, and fucking explosives that they would be taking along with them on the job.  
Ryan scooped up his throwing knives as he stalked past, beginning to sharpen them in a very intimidating manner.  
Gav looked up from the desk, and her jaw nearly dropped as she elbowed Michael, who's eyes widened in shock.  
"Holy shit. I'd totally do you." 

"Michael!" 

"I'm sorry Gav, but... Holy shit!" He waved his hands at Ray, who rolled her eyes. 

"He's right. We'll have a pretty good distraction tonight; This job will be easy. Now, should we go over the plans again?" Geoff smirked, looking Ray up and down.

"If I say no, will it matter?" Ray asked, and Jack shook her head.

"Nope. Alright, Geoff and Gav, you two will be drawing heat so that Michael can break into the safe, I'll be flying the chopper for quick evac. Ray, Vagabond, you two are in the club keeping that crew satisfied and distracted. Ryan-" Jack looked at the man, who had just cocked a shotgun in preparation to add it to his bag of goodies. He looked up, and Jack sighed.

"Let Ray do the smooth talking. You're there to get her out if the situation gets sticky, got it?" She ordered, and he rolled his eyes, but nodded just the same.

"Good. Now, Michael, the safe is in building four twenty-" 

"Blaze it." 

"Fucking hell." 

It had slipped out before Ray could stop it, and Gav's reaction had been the same as always, though the guys were laughing. Even Jack couldn't help a smile. As Ray looked at Ryan, she caught a smirk leaving his lips, and she chuckled, brushing her hair out of her eyes. 

"Later, Ray. Michael, pay attention."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Ryan and Ray made their way to the club; The man drove, and Ray picked at the hem of the dress anxiously.  
His eyes flicked to her hands, and he frowned a bit.  
"Stop that." He grabbed her hands so suddenly that the woman jumped, but she didn't pull away.  
With one hand on the wheel, the other holding both of hers, the psychopath kept his eyes on the road.  
"You look fine, and this is gonna go off without a hitch, okay? No problems. So stop it with the fidgeting, you're making me nervous."

Ray sucked in a deep breath, watching as Ryan drove behind the building, squeezing the getaway car into a small alleyway.

"Are you ready, kid?" He asked as he switched off the engine, and she could only nod slowly, trying not to panic. Ryan released her hands, watching her closely before getting out with his bag of deadly weapons. Ray followed, adjusting once more before scampering after Ryan.

"Alright, does everyone copy? Annoying Bastard One, do you copy?" Jack's voice crackled to life over the earpiece, and Ray couldn't help the slight smirk that came over her lips as Gavenia replied. 

"I copy. Geoff does too, he just hates our names." 

"Fuck you." Geoff rang in, and Ray could hear Jack pushing away a laugh. 

"Alright, alright. Blaze it one, do you copy?" 

"I'm here. I think my name is artistic beauty, by the way." Ray said, pausing outside the door and nodding to Ryan. 

"Okay, Vagabond and I are splitting up. We are a go." 

"Okay, Ray, remember the panic word if things get too sticky." Jack said, and Ray rolled her eyes. 

"I remember my safe word, it won't get too rough." 

"Good. Sign off, stupid." Jack mumbled, obviously busying herself with something else. 

"Alright, got it. I'm heading in." Ray hesitated a moment.  
"Good luck, guys. Don't let me get killed." 

"You got it, baby girl. Now go on, it's time." Ray smiled at Jack's words and silently signed off, taking a deep breath before heading into the club.  
Ray looked around the club, her dark eyes searching for the face she'd memorized as being her target. A huge hulking man with one eye and hands the size of steaks.  
She was standing there awkwardly for about two minutes solid before she opted to go sit at the bar to keep her cover. Ryan had disappeared as well, leaving her completely alone. She wasn't panicking. Was she? Was the room spinning? Shit.  
"Hey, beautiful. Can I buy you a drink?" A hand snaked around her waist and warm breath rolled against her neck. Her first impulse was to shoot the dick in the face, but as she looked back a bit, she caught a glimpse of the face of her target. She relaxed against his chest with a smirk, and nodded. 

"Sure, sugar. Anything without liquor in it."  
_-_-_-_-_-_-_  
Gavenia straightened her sunglasses in the mirror for the hundredth time, earning her a glare from Geoff, who sat shotgun if the high profile, cherry red mustang that was now speeding down the road at a reasonable hundred miles per hour.

"Eyes on the road, dickhead." The older man grunted, and Gav nodded, flooring the car-  
Wait, she already was flooring it. 

"Can't you go any faster?" Geoff asked, smirking. The girl laughed, and switched gears, fucking Fast and Furious'ing around a corner with a whoop. Geoff fist pumped and cheered, even when there was a thumping something, or someone, being hit with the sports car.  
"Alright, Gav, this convenience store right here. We rob and set off the alarms. Hey, Jack, come in. Chopper, come in." 

"I copy, Annoying Bastard Two." 

"Fuck off." Geoff muttered, rubbing his face.

"Hey, you called me, remember? Don't be a dick." Jack said, and Geoff rolled his eyes. 

"Status report." The man growled, checking his guns as Gav pulled into the shop parking lot. 

"Rage Monster here. I'm in the building, but I made a shit load of noise getting in. Have you guys started the distraction yet?" Michael cut in, and Gav couldn't help the smile that flickered on her lips. 

"Getting on it right now, babe." She said, grabbing her own pistols and cocking them. 

"Good. I don't want Ray with that guy any longer than she has to be. He's a freak, if this fucking drug den shows anything about his character." The locksmith informed them. The others took deep breaths, before getting out of the car and head in into the shop, signing off quickly as they stepped inside, guns blazing.  
Geoff went straight to the counter with a bag, holding up the clerk for their money and allowing Gavenia to check for survivors. 

"How's it going, guys?" Gav asked over the radio, and Michael was the first to answer back.  
"A few more minutes." He said, obviously a bit annoyed. 

A gunshot from around the corner drew Gav's attention, and she glanced back, seeing Geoff grimacing at the bag of money. 

"Not enough?" She asked, and he shrugged.  
"Couple hundred. There's a Ducati out front, you take that, and we'll split up." The two nodded to each other, leaving the shop and the dead bodies behind, the alarms screeching.  
_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Michael was breezing through the security like it was nothing, his heavy AR hoisted onto his shoulder as he carefully rerouted electricity for secured doors and shooting down any guards who got in his way.  
It's not like these guys were poor, obviously. According to the inside info from a girl he knew by the name of Lindsay, these guys had millions stacked up, just laying around in a safe for the taking.  
The silencer on his gun was definitely doing it's job; no matter how many guys he shot, no more came at him.  
A-fucking-men for that. Michael wasn't afraid. He was ready to kick some ass.  
He set down his gun as he came to another electronic panel, prying it open with his hunting knife and switching around the wires.  
He paused to wipe his nose on the back of his hand, taking a moment to take in his surroundings.  
He was in the basement of the hideout that the enemy crew had taken refuge in, concrete walls and bare light bulbs hanging from the ceiling.  
The only thing modern about this place was the obnoxious guarding systems.  
"Fuck, ow." He hissed, waving his hand as he felt the shock of electricity pop through it, sticking his finger in his mouth when the door opened.  
Of course there would be another low life hiding behind it. Michael wasn't fast enough, and recieved a swift punch to the nose, sending him stumbling backwards. The guy came at him, but he wasn't getting fooled again. He dodged each blow, blocking and leaning away, seeing as he'd dropped his gun at the first hit.  
"You want summa this, bastard?!" The russet haired man asked, his fists flying. In a matter of moments, the guard was laying on the floor, groaning in pain. Michael knelt down, pulling his knife and finishing the job.  
"Didn't think so, bitch." 

As he got up and dusted himself off, Michael briefly considered how his girl friend would have handled that, in her dark espionage clothes and messy hair and fucking Yang Xiao Long fighting style. She just kept hitting until whatever it was was dead, or she'd been knocked down and couldn't come back up.  
"Focus. Now is not the time." He muttered, feeling himself starting to slip into Gavenia land.  
"Michael, there's one more door till the same. Remember, its like a fucking walk in vault, so if that door shuts behind you, you're boned. Got it?" Jack's voice made Michael both jump and come back to reality.  
"I got it Jackie, girl, calm your tits." The man muttered, continuing on and rerouting the wiring, going inside to the vault. The combination was pretty easily gotten, what with the tumbling and clicking and shit.

Eventually, the safe was opened, and Michael laughed. 

"I got it open, Jack! Who the fuck needs a seven digit combination anyways?" He chuckled, pulling the duffle bag from his back, and beginning to stuff it full of bills.  
_-_-_-_-_-_-_  
Ray had been dancing for about an hour when the target had begun to get handsy. He was obviously drunk off his ass, but the girl had no choice.  
He'd felt her up at least five times, and the only thing that had kept her from punching the man's lights out was to think of Ryan, and pretend that it was him with his hands on her.  
She'd been doing that a lot on this night, from the hands running up her sides to the sloppy lips dragging over her neck; Ray had seen only Ryan's face. She would like to think he'd actually do those things to her of his own volition, but from the time she'd spent with Ryan, or Vagabond for that matter, she wasn't sure. She'd caught him humming every once in a while, she'd seen him play off a Halo Victory like it was nothing.  
He'd kissed her once. That couldn't mean anything, could it? After all, it was just a good luck kiss. Leia had given one to Luke in Star Wars.  
Aaaaaaand Ray had strayed straight into nasty town. Actually, she'd been there all night, with the creep whose chest was currently pressed against her back, swinging her hips in time with his, his fingers digging into her sides and his nose in her hair. She felt disgusting, but she giggled, her arms up and around his neck. 

"What do you say you and I take this outside, hmm, baby?" The gravely voice sounded in her ear, and she swallowed hard. She did NOT want to take this outside. She froze up, her mouth falling open as she scavenged for a reply, but she was saved by a voice in her earpiece. 

"Ray, Ryan, Michael is out! Time to go!" Jack sounded thrilled, as if she'd been handed a basket of puppies. Or a basket of guns. 

Ray breathed a sigh of relief, but it caught in her throat as another voice came over the earpiece. 

"The murder break is over." 

Ray barely had time to think before there was the sound of flying metal by her ear, and the hands that held her body released her. She gasped, whirling around in time to see the target falling to the ground, a knife protruding from his forehead.  
All around her, members of the rival crew fell to the floor with similar injuries, and Ray could do nothing but stand there and watch.  
Eventually it occurred to her to pull out her gun, and that's when the screaming started. Gunshots rang out as Ray finished off the last few members of the gang, but there were more shots fired, though they were not from her gun. People were dropping like flies- innocent people. The screams were deafening, and Ray knew that she had to find Vagabond before it was too late. She began to fight her way through the horde of people clambering to the door, trying as hard as she could to see anything.  
"Ryan!" She called out, noticing a slight gap between shots this time.  
So he'd heard her, great. But he hadn't stopped. So, she tried again.  
"Ryan! Ryan, come find me! Ryan!" It was like coaxing a child, but it seemed to be working, because the shots stopped. The people nearly knocked Ray down as she shoved past, searching for her partner, but soon they were gone, and only dead bodies littered the floor of the club. The track on the speakers was skipping, playing the same techno riff over and over again, but Ray could hardly hear it. Her walnut eyes raked the empty bar, finally landing on a shadowed figure, standing by an overturned table.  
"Ryan, there you are!" The relief was so evident in her voice, but she wasn't embarrassed.  
Ryan's chin tilted up so that he could see her, and the weapons slid from his fingers. He peeled away his mask, revealing the facepaint running down his cheeks. He took a few shaky steps towards Ray, who met him halfway. They surveyed each other a moment.  
"Did he hurt you?" Ryan asked, taking her by the shoulders a moment. She jumped, but shook her head.  
"Good..." He looked around, and suddenly, his arms wrapped around her waist and his head was buried in her shoulder, like a child seeking refuge.  
Ray was shocked at first, her hands up as she tried to figure out what to do before she slowly lowered them, wrapping around Ryan and stroking his back. 

"Ryan... We need to go-" She was cut off again as Ryan shocked her yet again. He released her waist, but instead of leaving it at that, the man leaned forward, pressing an intentional, tender kiss to her lips.  
Ray swore that she puffed up like a stunned cat, but she couldn't pull away. Instead, a hand reached up, brushing over Ryan's long hair that'd been tied up in a ponytail. Her eyes fluttered shut right as Ryan pulled away and kissed her cheek, then picked up his weapon bag from the floor. Out of it, he pulled a smaller bag, one Ray recognized as the same type that the Crew used for money.  
"I'll get the bar. You get the safe." Ryan had switched back to Vagabond mode, Ray could tell that much as he fit his mask back over his face.  
She gave a nod, turning and hurrying as fast as her annoying heels would let her to the kitchen. She'd gone over the blueprints for this place hundreds of times, it was easy to find the safe in the back. A quick shot to the lock, and Ray had it open, and stuffed the sack with the cash.  
She turned to leave, but froze suddenly at the sound of a gun cocking right in front of her face. A man with a throwing knife embedded in his shoulder held a Glock to her forehead. 

"You fucking bitch. I knew you were too good to be true, you slut." He snarled, his finger on the trigger. Ray tried to calculate. By the time she got her gun up, she'd be dead. She was boned. What could she do?  
She did what she could.  
"Really, you fuck? It took you so long? I really thought my acting was pretty great. It's not my fault your dildo friends are dead." She was buying time, altering her position just so. 

"Shut up! I'll kill you, bitch!" He shouted, his hand faltering a bit. Ray took her chance, and she ran, trying to concentrate on getting out of the confined kitchen and into the wider area of the club. Just as she got a hand on the swinging door, a shot rang out, and the girl screamed, feeling the bullet pierce her leg. She collapsed, stunned for a moment by the blinding pain in her calf, but she knew she couldn't stop.  
Ray began clawing her way out, managing to get just out of the door before a hand gripped her by the hair, hauling her up and putting the gun to her temple. This seemed familiar.  
"Stop." The firm voice came from not far off, and suddenly Ray was being turned around, held with the gun under her chin and the man positioned exactly behind her.  
Ryan's eyes raked over the wounded girl, a snarl issuing from his lips. There was no way he could hit him without hitting Ray.  
"Alright, fucker. You have two seconds to step away from her before you die." Ryan's voice was shaking beneath the mask, his gun raised towards the assailant. 

"You two, you're part of the Fake AH Crew! I won't just surrender like some pussy!" He shot back, his finger tightening on the trigger. Ray squeezed her eyes shut, tears streaming down her cheeks. 

"Ray." Ryan called to her, taking off his mask and tucking it into his pocket. The girl opened her eyes and looked at him, panic racing through her like a cornered animal. 

"It's gonna be okay. I promise, babe. Do you trust me?" The words were so loud to her, and after a moment of fighting fear, Ray swallowed hard a nodded. 

"Good girl." 

A gunshot sounded, and Ray fell to the ground, unable to move, unable to breath. She didn't know what the hell was going on, but damn, was she in a lot of pain. She felt herself being lifted up, but the agony was more than she could bear, and she passed out.  
_-_-_-_-_-_-_  
"Ryan? Ray? You had better fucking answer me, damming, right fucking now!"  
"Life check! What the fuck were those gunshots?! Status report! Ryan, Ray?!"  
Geoff and Jack had both made it to Safehouse Seven, while Gavin and Michael went to Safehouse Three. It'd been half an hour, and nothing was heard from the pair from the club, and the leaders were getting anxious.  
"Guys? Come on, please, answer." Jack pled through the radio, rubbing her face. 

"I'm alive. Ray's hurt. I'm going to Safehouse Eight." Geoff jumped at the Ryan's voice, setting his beer bottle on the table before picking up the Walkie talkie. 

"How hurt is she? What happened?" He asked, but there was a moment of silence between them. 

"I can't talk now. I'll fill you in after I take care of this. Over and out." He muttered, against Geoff's protests. 

"Ryan? Ryan- oh never mind." Geoff growled, slamming the radio down. 

"They're like fucking children."  
_-_-_-_-_-_-_  
Michael and Gavenia heard the whole conversation over their radios, and the two were terrified.  
"What if she's dead? We weren't there, we put her in that position, and now she's bloody dead!" Gav wailed, only to be hushed by Michael. 

"Ryan said she was just hurt. Everything is gonna be fine. We just need to lay low." He soothed, but Gav was already up and pacing.  
Safehouse Three was a dilapidated warehouse at the edge of town, with one window, a mattress on the floor and a mini fridge for when they did have to stop by. The two had been laying on the makeshift bed recovering when the call came in, but now, Gav would undoubtedly be pacing until she heard Ray's voice again. 

"Hang on a second, did he say Safehouse Eight?" Michael asked, cocking his head curiously.  
"We only have seven safehouses."

"No, no, no, Geoff and Jack added another. It's Ray's and my apartment."  
_-_-_-_-_-_-_  
.  
Ray woke to an agonizing pain in her abdomen. It felt as if she was being ripped apart, and her weak body could only respond by letting out an pitiful cry, tears welling in her eyes as she squirmed. She couldn't sit up or even look around, and she feared for a moment that she'd been left behind to die in that bar. But this didn't look like the dark, dank club.  
The blankets beneath her felt familiar, and the ceiling made of pitted white drywall greeted her like an old friend.  
She was in her own bedroom.  
It felt like ages since she'd actually slept in her own bed, and not up against Ryan or in between Gav and Michael, and to her, it was lonlier now, without them.  
Ray tried moving again but was greeted by a blinding bolt of pain in her gut, and she cried out again, tears now streaming down her face.  
Just beside her, something stirred, the blankets suddenly flying away as a soothing voice began to comfort her.  
"Sh, sh, Ray, it's okay, babe, I'm here, everything is gonna be okay, I promise." Ryan, who'd been dozing beside her, had woken up quickly at the sound of her pain. He wasted no time pushing away Ray's shirt to reveal the bloodied bandage that was wrapped around her stomach.  
"R-Ryan-" Ray tried, but blue eyes met brown, and she didn't need to say any more. The blond man leaned down, pressing his lips to her forehead, then resting his head against hers.  
"I'm so sorry, Ray. I didn't want to shoot you, but... this is better than you being dead." He said with a hushed voice, brushing tears from her cheeks. Ray swallowed hard, a laugh bubbling to the surface.  
"T- they always said I was gonna get shot." She laughed, watching as Ryan nimbly changed the bandage, the stitched wound visible for only a moment before it was covered again.  
Ryan chuckled, leaning up to kiss her forehead, his blond hair askew.  
"You're one of us, Ray. You always will be."


	2. Filled it up with Novocaine-

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this drabble literally in about six hours, don't hate me.

The sounds of the city filtered in through open windows, the most recognizable of which were police sirens, wailing into the night.  
You could thank Michael for that. The demolitions man had done his job, leveling six building across town, while Gavenia and Jack had gone into another gang's territory with Ryan in tow. Well, Vagabond, really.  
Ray had gone on the heist, and now, the girl was curled up in one of the squashy armchairs in the loft, the rest of the team absently mulling about.  
Everyone except Ryan, of course.  
About an hour had past since the rendezvous time, and he still hadn't shown up. Ray was losing her mind, staring at the door, ignoring Jack when she'd called her for dinner, which really consisted of whatever was in the fridge.  
"He did this all the time before you joined, Ray-" Geoff had made an attempt to comfort her.  
"I'm sure he's just finishing up." 

"We should call him." Ray pulled her phone from her pocket, but Jack only shook her head.  
"No point. He doesn't have his on him during jobs. Be patient, baby girl." 

The brunette sighed anxiously, her 3DS balanced on her knee. Whenever it tottered precariously, she shifted her leg and caught it. It was an act of nerves, and it was ticking Geoff off. 

"She's really upset about Rye." He mumbled, taking a swig of his beer and turning to Jack, who looked like a concerned mother. 

"What's going on between them?" She asked, and Geoff shrugged. A small giggle, a sound like a chirping bird, sounded not far from them, and they both looked over to see an amused Gav. 

"You two are bloody blind gits." She said, making Michael chuckle.  
"You think they've fucked yet?" The blonde woman asked, earning herself a kick. 

"I'm not deaf, you know!" Ray turned, glaring at the crew from across the apartment. She got to her feet, padding to the kitchen with her arms crossed and her eyes downcast. 

Jack sighed, placing a gentle hand on the girl's shoulder, only to be shaken off irritably. Ray grabbed a granola bar, crossing the floor again and going back to her chair and picking at the snack halfheartedly.  
Another hour passed, and the man still hadn't shown up.

"I'm going to bed, let me know when Ryan decides to come back." Geoff stood up, brushing off his lap as he rose from the couch. Gav sat at Michael's feet, leaning against his legs as she played on her phone, Jack sat on the couch reading some spy novel that she'd found on one of the heists. 

Ray was curled into the chair still, her legs growing stiff now.  
What if he'd been killed? What if he was with some other girl?  
Wait, really, Ray? You're worried about that?  
The girl sighed, curling up even tighter. 

"Ray, calm down. He's coming back, he always does." Michael tried. 

"What if he isnt? What if some guy got the jump on him?" She asked, her hands shifting into fists as she got to her feet, beginning to pace. It was all she could do to keep from crying as she hugged herself. 

Michael sighed, getting up and stepping over Gav, catching Ray in a comforting embrace. 

"He'll come back, Ray." 

She opened her mouth to retaliate, but as she did, the sound of a lock clicking drew her attention to the door.  
The port swung open, revealing Ryan, battered and bruised, his mask hanging from his belt and blood smeared across his face and neck. 

"Ryan." The name left Ray's lips like a prayer, and suddenly her body took over, her feet stumbling as she crossed the floor, and ran straight into the killer's open arms. The blond man clutched her tightly, lifting her up easily and wordlessly, carrying her through the room without so much as a word to the others, no more than a nod to Geoff and Jack.  
Ryan walked into the bathroom before setting Ray down and locking the door behind him.  
His eyes searched the girl for any wounds, though it was clear from the blood on his own body that he was hurt.  
Ray's eyes traced every inch of the man, her hands reaching up and unzipping his jacket. Ryan stood there, allowing her to do so, his eyes trained on her face and a hand on her cheek. 

"Fuck, Ryan..." The words left her lips as she saw the wounds on the man's chest. It was clear he'd been slashed and stabbed several times, and now it made sense, the amount of blood on him.  
"Sit down, just... I'm gonna take care of you." Ray said softly, kissing Ryan's jaw and seating him on the closed lid of the toilet. He was quiet and obedient, his eyes following his lover as she plugged the drain in the bathtub and started the hot water. She then turned back to him, motioning for him to stand back up. He shook off his jacket, cringing a bit at the movement. He then looked at his shirt, and sighed, wincing as he tried to pull it off.  
"Don't, Ryan, you'll hurt yourself." Ray said gently, reaching into the cabinet by the sink and pulling of a pair of medical scissors, cutting away the already ruined tee shirt and pulling it off of him. He then stripped off his pants and boxers, turning and getting into the tub. Ray turned off the water, not even caring this Ryan was completely naked in front of her. He was hurt. There would be time for sexual fantasies later.  
Ray picked up a washcloth from the stack of towels on the floor, kneeling by the tub as she soaked the rag. Ryan had closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on fully coming out of Vagabond mode, and suppressing the pain that course through his body, though he was very aware of the gentle care that Ray was providing.  
The girl wiped away the blood on his chest, trying to be gentle around the cuts, though most had stopped bleeding at that point. 

"Should I call Lindsay?" Ray asked, and Ryan's eyes opened, showing the discomfort he felt.  
"No. I don't want her yelling at me. You can do it." It was both an invitation and a motivation, since Ray had almost become ill the first time she'd stitched one of Gavenia's cuts.  
She took a deep breath, and let it out as a sigh, nodding. She rose, going back to the cabinet by the sink and pulling out the first aid bin. Geoff had made it, given what was inside. A sewing kit with surgical sutures and thread, rubbing alcohol and a large bottle of whiskey were arranged in the basket.  
Ray pulled out the whiskey and handed it to Ryan, who nodded gratefully, unscrewing the lid and taking a long drink, hissing and shaking his head as he removed the bottle from his lips.  
"Alright, I'm gonna clean this one." Ray motioned to the longest cut, an eight inch gash that seemed to be about an inch deep. Ryan looked up at her, his eyes filled with worry and pain. 

Ray hesitated.  
"I... Are you sure you don't want me to call Lindsay? She's way better at this than me." She said, biting her lip as she lowered her hands. Ryan shook his head again, taking Ray's hand gently.  
"Please, baby... Ray, I know you can do this. I promise, you won't hurt me."  
There was the elephant in the room again.  
The couple had the uncanny ability to cause bodily harm to one another without the intention of doing so.  
Ray had accidentally punched Ryan in the face two days prior, having been spooked so badly by his silent entrance into the kitchen that her fighter's instincts had kicked in, and suddenly Ryan had a bloody nose and Ray had bruised knuckles.  
They'd laughed about it later, but that was different. This was growing to be a matter of life and death. Ray needed to grow a set and man up.  
"I know you can do it. Now give me a kiss and I'll thread the needle for you." Ryan demanded, his demeanor soft and gentle as his girl leaned forward on her knees. She handed him the small sewing kit, and stole a shaky kiss before pulling away and watching him as he expertly poked the surgical thread through the eye of the needle, carefully handing it back to her.  
Ray sucked in a deep breath, dumping a bit of alcohol onto the wound, and sighing at the look of discomfort on Ryan's face. 

"Ready, babe?" She asked quietly, watching as Rye gave a halfhearted shrug. 

"One, two-" She didn't wait till three as she jammed the needle through and made the first stitch, feeling the man's muscles tense beneath her hands.  
"Fuck." He snarled. His pain tolerance was literally at zero, and now, he was in danger of tipping into Vagabond mode. If that happened, Ray wouldn't be safe in a small locked room with him. 

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Ray said quickly, and he shook his head, looking at her.  
"It's fine, just keep going." He said, his voice quiet as he closed his eyes. 

This vicious cycle went on for about an hour more, until the bathwater was red with blood and the stitches had been finished. Ryan leaned on Ray as she helped him out of the bath tub, noticing that she was averting her eyes from his naked body. 

"You can look, you know. It's not like its holy ground." Ryan smirked.  
Ray's mouth fell open, a blush lighting up her cheeks, but her jaw snapped shut up she seemed to get her wits about her.  
"What makes you think I want to? You're not even strong enough to get all jittery at the thought of a girl looking at you. What's it been, twenty years since your last good fuck?" Maybe she'd gotten a little hurtful as she propped Ryan against the wall, grabbing a towel and wrapping it around his waist, her hand brushing his stomach and making him chuckle. 

"You're a bad liar, babe." Ryan said, leaning down and catching her lips in a tender kiss.  
She rolled her eyes as she took his arm back over his shoulder and unlocked the bathroom door, but yelling and nearly falling on her ass as someone came tumbling into the room, obviously having been leaned against the door.  
"Gavenia Free, I swear to fucking-" Ryan growled as the woman leaped to her feet, looking like a terrified bird. 

"I was just- I wasn't- I only-" Ray rolled her eyes, shoving her out of the way and helping Ryan down the darkened hallway towards his room, bumping open the door with her hip.  
The room was very simple, a plain grey bed frame with a dark blue bedspread, a clock on the wall and a dresser with a television and an Xbox with games stacked neatly, a desk in the corner with a laptop on it, and a white couch on the opposite end on the large room. Ray helped Ryan onto the bed, going to the dresser and pulling out a pair of black sweatpants decorated with green stars, smirking as she did so. She went back to the bed, handing him the pants, and, against her better judgement, watched him get dressed. God clearly knew what he was doing when he made Ryan Haywood.  
Ray helped him lay down as she ignored the blatant smirk on his lips, pressing a kiss to his lips before turning to leave, only to feel a hand grab her wrist.  
"Stay." Ryan said, and Ray glanced back, seeing the pitiful look in his eyes, and feeling guilty. She sighed, lifting the covers and climbing into the bed beside him, tucking her head under his chin and draping an arm over his waist. 

"Thank you, baby..." Ryan mumbled, wrapping his arms around his lover as best as his body would allow. 

"No problem-" Ray whispered.  
"Don't ever fucking do it again."


	3. I've got those Jetpack Blues...

It was chaos.  
Screeching, scratching, kicking.   
Black hair flew as the woman tried to attack the huge man, who shoved her backwards harshly. She shouted at him, and he snarls at her, taking a step towards her to continue the fight. She was smaller than him, she stood only a small chance, but all the same, she launched a fist at his face, landing the blow and knocking him back a few feet. He let out a furious shout, and suddenly, the two were cut off from each other, a pair of men holding the blond man back, and a red haired woman hauling the brunette backwards.   
"What the fuck is wrong with you?!" The younger woman, Ray, shouted at the man. Ryan snarled, trying to wrench himself free of Geoff and Michael's grip, but he was firmly held back.   
Both of the fighters bore war wounds from each other; bloody scratches stood out on Ryan's jaw, and Ray sported a split lip and a venomous glare.   
"I'm not working with you again. This is it. I'm done with you." Ryan growled, meaning every sense of the words. They hit Ray like a kick to the stomach, but she didn't show it, just shaking free from Jack's grip on her arms, turning and picking up her backpack and heading towards the door.   
"Hey, where do you think you're going?!" Gavenia squawked, hurrying after her friend, who kept walking. 

"None of your business. Fuck off." She muttered, opening the door and casting a short glance over her shoulder before slamming it shut.   
She'd seen no remorse on her lover- well, ex-lover's face. Even if it was Vagabond that had started the fight.   
It'd been a simple run to rob the convenience store a few streets over, and it had started out innocent enough, Ray holding up the cashier and Ryan looking around for hostages. Ray, when the money had been put into a bag and handed to her, had held the gun to the head of the only hostage they had, and told him to beg for his life.   
The cashier had opened his mouth the plead, but then Ryan had decided to use the poor bastard for target practice with his knives, each landing perfectly and killing the hostage. It would have been fine if that had been the end of the argument, by of course it wasn't. The fucking cops had shown up. Ray was more than capable of taking down a few cops, but she didn't even get that chance either, as Ryan wasted no time blowing their brains out. That had started a squall between the two, and through the course of the time that it took to get back to the loft, Ray had been so pissed off that she couldn't help but punch him. She'd only hit him in the stomach, but he'd grabbed her by the shoulders, effectively scaring the shit out of her. That's when she'd clawed him, and he'd punched her in the face.   
Fucking Vagabond.   
Ray had been living with the Crew for a long time now, but all the same, she'd been trying to get along with Vagabond as best she could. There were rules about her and Vagabond being alone together, and it just wasn't supposed to happen unless there was radio contact. There had been, but Jack and Geoff had assumed the two would work it out when Ryan snapped out of it.   
As Ray descended the stairs of the apartment complex, she thought for a moment about where she was going to go. She wasn't going to a safe house, that's where they would look for her first. She pulled out her phone, selecting a number that she hadn't dialed in months.   
"Hey, Miles! No, yeah, I'm good! Hey, I was wondering if you could come get me..."

 

He was staring.   
Damn, he was staring, and she was getting twitchy.   
Ray glanced at Miles' concerned face from across the table, the bag of frozen peas pressed to her cheek to make the bruise less noticeable, though her lip was turning a pretty black. 

"Take a picture, it'll last longer." She tried to act like her old self, but that comment was only successful in the sense that Miles looked down, picking at his fingernails. 

"Was it your boyfriend?" The word 'boyfriend' was enunciated, filled with poison and sarcasm. 

"Why do you think it was my- Why do you think I have a boyfriend?" Ray asked, taking the ice away from her face so that she could look at Miles. 

"You moved away and quit your job, and you stopped talking to me. All those scream boyfriend to me. So, what, he's overprotective and abusive? You know that if you need to get away from him, you can just call the cops, right?" Ray tried to interject, but Miles kept on chugging through.   
"You're not the kind of girl who just lets yourself be beat up on, I've seen you kick the shit out of people. So this guy much be really big, or really important to you. I'd offer to fight him, but he's probably bigger than I am..." He trailed off, scratching the back of his neck.   
Ray was having an internal firefight. A part of her was screeching that she shouldn't tell Miles the truth about the crew and her life, but the other was torn about lying to her best friend. 

"Look, Miles... I just need a place to lie low for a little while. I'm just hiding out, and they- He won't look here." She said quietly, rubbing her cheek.   
Miles didn't hesitate to nod quickly, grabbing his phone from his pocket.   
"Do me a favor and call my girlfriend so she can hear it from you that a girl is staying with me." 

"You have a girlfriend? Why didn't I hear about this?" Ray smirked, crossing her arms on the table top.   
Miles shrugged.   
"Why didn't I hear about your abusive boyfriend?"   
The girl stopped smiling. In fact, her lips curled into a frown.   
"He's not abusive." 

"Then how did that happen?"

"He didn't do it! "

"Then who did?"

"His other personality!"

Great, now she seemed completely nuts, and Miles probably thought she was lying. 

The man cocked his head, frowning.   
"His... What?"

 

Eight days passed before Ray turned her phone back on, and she regretted it immediately. Thirty texts from Gav, twenty-five from Michael, sixteen from Jack, ten from Geoff-  
And two from Ryan.   
She couldn't bring herself to open those just yet, so she flicked through the rest of the crew's. Gav's were all pretty similar, saying things like 'please come home, ill cook for you if you come back'. Michael's weren't too far off from that, but a few stood out to her, like the ones that stated that Geoff had commented about missing her, and that Ryan had stopped coming out of his room, and they weren't sure if he was even eating or sleeping anymore. Jack's and Geoff's were nearly identical, save for the few from Jack saying that things had calmed down and that she needed to come back, that she missed her making messes everywhere.   
Geoff's said that she was under contract.   
That left Ryan's.   
Ray's thumb hovered over his name card, the little bubble with the number two hanging beside it was really annoying her, and the only way to make it go away was to delete them, or read them.   
So, she tapped the button, and the messages expanded on her screen.   
'Ray, I'm so sorry. I would say that it wasn't my fault, but it was. I should have been able to control myself, but I didn't, and I have to take responsibility for my actions. Baby, come home.'   
Ray sighed, swiping down the message, her emotions torn. She wasn't going home, not yet. She wasn't willing to give up that easily, no matter what he tried with her.   
She flicked to the next message, and her heart stopped.   
'I know where you are. Come and get him. -VB.'   
The time stamp read that it had been sent half an hour ago.  
This wasn't just about her anymore. Vagabond was knew where she was, and Miles was in danger. Ryan couldn't possibly have written that, and she was legitimately afraid now.   
Ray leaped off the couch, pulling on her hoodie and sneakers, and abandoning her phone as she tore out of the apartment and towards the shopping center where the GameStop was. Miles worked there, and if anything was going to happen, Vagabond would have chosen there to do it.  
It was about a mile away, down crowded city streets, though Ray didn't give a shit. She was running there, her heart pounding, blood rushing to her cheeks as she puffed.   
She made it to the little store in record time, her chest heaving as she slammed open the door and stumbled into the shop, her eyes wide and searching.   
"Miles?!" She said between gasps for air. She didn't see him at the counter, and people were beginning to stare as she ran around it, and into the back of the store.   
"Miles?!" She shouted again, and she heard footsteps running towards her. The person came flying around a stack of boxes, though it wasn't Miles.   
"Kerry, where is Miles?" Ray asked, not wasting any time, even though the short man looked shocked by her sudden appearance.   
"Ray? Where the fuck have you been? It's been, like, a year and a half! Why-" The woman cut him off, grabbing him by the arms with a ferocity that made him shut up. 

"Where. Is. Miles." She growled, and he put up his hands, gesturing wildly.   
"He left with some guy about forty five minutes ago! I don't know where he went!" He said quickly.   
Ray's heart dropped, but she didn't stop her interrogation.   
"What did the guy look like? Did he have red hair, or blond hair?" The woman asked, loosening her grip on her friend, who shook his head.   
"Brown hair. Curly mustache. Why, do you know him? Is he in some kind of trouble?" Kerry asked, cocking his head and Ray's hands dropped completely. She turned and bolted, jumping and sliding over the counter, dismounting in a run out of the store and ignoring the odd looks she recieved from the customers as she slammed open the door and hailed a cab, whistling so loud that it shocked her. She had no money on her, but it didnt even occur to her as the yellow car pulled up in front of her. She dove in, ordering the address of the Fake AH Crew's headquarters, her leg bouncing with anxiety. It was twenty minutes in this traffic, and Ray was about to bust with nerves.   
The cab stopped half a mile from the Penthouse, and Ray could take no more. She flung open the car door and leaped out, ignoring the shouting cabbie as she flew down the sidewalk, attempting to avoid running into pedestrians but it definitely was not her first priority. She loved her Crew, and she trusted them, but if Vagabond had Miles-  
She couldn't think about that. Her feet pounded concrete, her eyes dark with fury.   
Ray blew through the revolving door and opted for the stairwell, her lungs and legs screeching from the amount of physical activity she'd had to do that day already. But she couldnt stop now.   
Seventh, eight, ninth, tenth-   
The floors began to blur, her body slowing just a bit before she reached the thirtieth floor. Her chest heaving, she dragged herself down the hallway, not even stopping to catch her breath, though she was wheezing. Her hoodie had become disheveled from running and the garment now was pushed up on her stomach, revealing the scars from missions past, but still, she didn't care.   
She practically kicked the door down as she stormed into the apartment, though she froze in shock at what she saw.   
Miles sat on the couch, Michael at his side and Gavenia on the arm of the seat, the three of them obviously enthralled in a very important game of whatever was on their 3DS screens. Geoff and Jack sat at the breakfast nook, each with a drink in hand, but one was missing.   
A sudden hand on her wrist made her jump and yelp, her free hand swinging up in what would have been a vicious punch, had it not been caught in midair. The activity had stopped now, and all attention was on Ray, who looked up and found herself staring into the face of-  
"Let me the fuck go, Ryan! What the fuck is going on here?!"  
A chuckle across the room drew her attention, and she scowled as Geoff strode towards her.   
She wrenched free from Ryan's grip, glaring at the man, though she noticed a look of sadness and stress upon his face as she turned away.   
"Ray, calm down." Now it was Miles trying to comfort her, but she could only stand there, wheezing still, with wide eyes and confusion spinning in her skull.   
"Will someone please talk to me?!" She wailed, and Geoff laughed again. 

"Ray, calm down. After you left, we tried to pull a heist over at the bank, but without our sniper, we barely made it out of there. We needed you back. So, Ryan hacked into your phone account, got Miles' number, and found out where he lived, since he's your last grip on you old life, I mean. That's actually kind of sad. Either way, we knew that of we had him, you'd have to come back." Geoff summarized.   
Ray could only stand there, staring at each of her friends in turn before she got to Miles, when she surveyed him for any bruises of cuts of any kind.   
"And... you were in on this?" She asked him. 

"Well I wasn't until about two hours ago. You didn't tell me you're a sniper, that's fucking badass!" He smiled, and Ray wanted to wipe that shit eating grin right off his face. 

"I'm not. I don't work do these freaks anymore. They don't know how to treat their members like theyre adults." She muttered, crossing her arms.   
A shift hand landed on her shoulder, and she turned, frowning as she saw the owner. 

"Ray..." Ryan looked as if he was walking on a sheet of ice, terrified that he might fall through at any moment.   
"Can I talk to you? In private?" 

Her first instinct was to punch him in the nose and walk out, but here, everyone was staring. 

"Fine." She muttered, shaking his hand off of her as she followed him to her room. He closed the door behind them as Ray sat on her bed, the plain red bedspread comforting and familiar beneath her. Her room was far from sophisticated, with several gaming platforms set in an entertainment center against the wall, and Nintendo toys scattered about decoratively. It was childish, the toys, but on the opposite side of the room, their was a table, filled with weaponry and ammo. On it, there was also a journal that held the secrets of her kills, as well as her body count.   
"Ray." Ryan hesitantly sat down beside her, keeping his distance. Smart man. 

"What are you gonna say, that I need to stop being a bitch and get over myself? Well guess what, Haywood? You can take your alternate personality and shove it right up your-" Ray was cut off suddenly by warm lips on hers, and a hand on her hip. Well, there went that attitude.   
Wait, she was still pissed.   
But Ryan tasted so sweet on her tongue...   
No, she was mad! She almost had to force herself to push the blond man off of her after about five seconds of this internal struggle. Ryan sighed as he looked down at the girl, his eyes filled with relief, even though he'd just been rebuffed.   
"I missed you so much. I was so worried that you-" He didn't get to finish, because Ray turned away from him.   
"Shut the hell up, Ryan. You broke up with me, remember?" She snapped. She could hear the sharp release of breath from the man, just over her shoulder. 

"I was angry. I didn't mean it, Ray, please... please forgive me." 

She looked back at him, his stupid face turned onto stupid puppy dog eyes. 

"Please, baby, I don't want to be alone. I need you. I..." He was hesitant, his voice low and soft.   
"I love you." 

Ray jumped as she heard the words, her eyes widening as she stared at him. 

"What?" She whispered, turning her body to face him. Ryan smiled softly, taking her hand, thrilled that she didn't pull away.   
"I love you, Ray."   
Holy shit, he meant it. He had to have meant it. Her lips parted, and she could see anxiety creeping into Ryan's eyes. She couldn't talk, she couldn't breathe.   
Speak stupid!  
No words came, and Ryan stood up, his eyes downcast.   
"I'm sorry, Ray, I should have known not to..." He mumbled as he began to walk towards the door.   
Ray was up in an instant, like a gazelle, leaping across the room and grabbing Ryan by the wrist, hauling him into a breathtaking kiss. He seemed rather stunned at first, but he was quick to wrap his arms around the girl, deepening the kiss as he swept his tongue across her lower lip, seeking entrance. She allowed, her head tilting a bit as her lips moved with his, like a dance, though beneath it all, tongues fought for dominance.   
Hands suddenly slid under the girl's shirt, making her break the kiss for a moment to catch her breath.   
"Ryan." She said softly, and the man instantly retreated, blushing just as hard as Ray was, his lips red and swollen from the kiss.   
"Sorry, I... Got carried away. I'm sorry." He mumbled, and the girl laughed softly, nuzzling his jaw.   
"Another time." She promised, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips before opening her door and slipping out into the hallway, straightening her glasses before she got to the main room, where Miles had returned to his very important game, which Ray now saw was Mario Kart. She rolled her eyes, stopping at the mouth of the room to look around at her friends- no, family.   
A gentle hand slid into hers, and she looked up to see Ryan, his blond hair pulled back into a ponytail. She smiled, butting her head against his shoulder before pulling away and flopping over the back of the couch and crossing her arms over Miles' face. The man sputtered, trying to pull free so that his view would be unobstructed.   
"Hey, Miles, you're losing the race, man, what's going on?" She asked, earning her laughs all around the room, except for Miles, who let out a sound of utter disbelief as the fanfare sounded in the game, alerting everyone that Michael had gotten first place, shortly followed by Gav.   
"Dammit, Ray! I almost had it!" Miles wailed, and the woman released him, smirking.   
"Well, now it's time for serious talk." She replied, crossing in front of the couch and perching on the ottoman. 

"Do you have any questions about what I do?" 

 

"So... you kill people?" 

"Yep."

"Even cops?"

"Yep."

"And you don't get caught?"

"Nope."

"You do know that murder is against the law, right?" 

"Yep." 

"Holy shit, my best friend kills people." 

"Yep."

Ray rubbed circles on Miles' back, the man's head in his hands, the rest of the crew sitting around the living room. 

"You can't tell anyone. Not even Kerry. Especially not Kerry." Ray said, and the man looked up at her, his eyes flicking from her to Ryan, who stood behind Jack's armchair, watching intently. 

"Is that your abusive boyfriend?" He asjed, and Ryan gave a sound of indignation, looking at Ray, who frowned.   
"I told you, he's not abusive. Besides, that has nothing to do with what I do." 

"You do him, don't you?"

Gav let out a snorting laugh, covering her mouth, and Michael started laughing so hard that he had to get up and leave. Ray hissed, slugging Miles in the shoulder. She looked up, and Ryan had a stupid smirk on his lips, shrugging helplessly. 

"Alright, Miles, you've had a long day, and I think it's time we got you home." Ray stood up quickly, hauling the man up with her. He let out annoyed noises, trying to pull away, but Ray wouldn't allow it.   
Ryan smiled at her as she dragged her friend from the apartment, closing the door behind her.


	4. How the Mighty Fall in Love

A staring contest was the main event on this day, blue eyes narrowed, sending sparks off chocolate orbs that challenged right back.   
A blonde woman stood with her palms down, her phone being used as a timer that read over two minutes. Her green eyes switched to the blond man who sat straight in his chair, his hair pulled into a man bun as he watched the black haired woman who sat across from him, her chin resting on her fists, her elbows on the table.   
A man in a suit entered the kitchen, his hair disheveled, as if he could only be bothered to complete half his morning routine. He walked past the table without a second look, but as he reaches the fridge, he glanced back, frowning. He watches them as he fixes himself a cup of coffee, and comes to stand beside Gavenia.   
"What's going on?" He asked, sipping his coffee, then waving his hand in between the two competitors. The referee hissed, pulling him back.   
"Staring contest. Its anyone's game right now, though the odds are favoring Ray, given her current record without blinking while playing Halo." Gav explained, and Geoff pursed his lips, nodding, before sticking his hand out and sweeping Ray's elbows out from under her, effectively causing her head to drop and her chin to smack into the harsh, unforgiving oak table. She yelled out in pain, squeezing her eyes shut, and Geoff pointed to the man across the table, who was halfway between a laugh and a look of concern for his girlfriend.  
"Ryan wins. Now, for the really important announcement-"

"I 'hink I 'it my nung." Ray mumbled, her mouth bloody as she got up, heading to the sink.

"What part if important don't you get?" The man turned, frowning.

"My mouf 'urts."

"Shut the fuck up and suck on an ice pack. You cocksuckers have the day off. So get the fuck out of this apartment." Geoff finally broke, and stormed from the room.

"You okay baby?" Ryan called to Ray, who was bent over the sink. She gave him a thumbs up, then a middle finger, and Gav giggled, sitting at the table and leaning back in her chair, propping her feet up. Ryan smirked, knowing that was disaster waiting to happen as he passed her, grabbing an ice pack - Well, it was really a frozen pudding cup, and stood at Ray's side. She rose from the sink sticking her tongue out for the man to see.   
"Little one. Here." He stuck the cup in her mouth, smiling as she rolled her eyes.

"So... Day off and being kicked out of the apartment? What do you wanna do?" He asked.

Ray thought a moment, wiping the corner of her mouth.   
Ryan bit his lip, nudging her back against the counter, taking the cup from her mouth and captured her lips in a kiss, his hips pinning her in place. Ray laughed softly, a light and breathy sound as Ryan's mouth moved to her throat. 

"If you two are going to fuck, can you not do it in the kitchen? That's unsanitary." Ray blushed as Jack sat down at the table, and Ryan gave a devilish smirk, gripping Ray by the thighs and hitching her up on his hips, her legs wrapping around him and her ass resting on the counter.   
"Why not, Jack? You and Geoff-"

"Bup bupbup! We're not talking about that!" Jack demanded, pointing at the mischievous blonde man. He chuckled, carrying Ray across the room to the couch, and laying her down before laying on top of her, pressing several small kisses to her cheeks, neck, and collarbone.   
"Ryan, you're squishing me." Ray said gently, pushing him, her hands on his chest. He stopped immediately, always nervous that he might hurt her.

"What do you wanna do, then?"

The girl thought a moment, cocking her head as she toyed with Ryan's hair.

"We should go to the zoo."

"No."

"Oh, yes."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"I hate you." Ryan muttered, his arms crossed, unmoving at the big green gates of Los Santos City Zoo.

 

"Shut up and smile, dickhead." Ray held up her phone, sighing as the man offered only a scowl. She snapped the photo of him, and quickly texted it to the crew before tucking it back into her pocket and walking into the animal reserve, her hands in her hoodie. If Ryan wanted to be a baby, she’d treat him like one. It wasn’t long before a hand slid into hers, and a smile found its way onto her lips. 

“Why don’t you like the zoo?” Ray asked as they made their way to the first enclosure, which happened to be tigers. Ryan stepped up to the fence, surveying the jungle cats with a bored expression. 

“Bad experiences.” He replied, glancing at the girl with a look that made her wish she hadn’t asked in the first place. However, she was not the type to give up at an answer like that. 

“Oh yeah?” She responded, watching as a tiger rolled onto its back to get more sunlight. 

“I’m not going to talk about it.”

“Did an animal hump your leg?”

“No, Ray.” 

“Did it try to kill you?”

“Stop asking.” 

“Aw, were you attacked?”

No sly remark met her words, only a downcast look of a man who’d lost his dignity to an animal. 

“What animal? Was it a bird?” Ray asked, nuzzling Ryan’s back. He sighed, and began to walk down the path again, pulling Ray along. 

“Yes. It was a bird. A very big bird.” He replied, and the girl tried to hide her smile. 

“So you can shoot people and not be scared, but a fucking seagull tries to get your popcorn, and suddenly-“

“It wasn’t a seagull, it was a peacock.”

Ray frowned at Ryan's tone as he spoke. He seemed irritated, but also, incredibly embarrassed. She smiled softly, butting her head against his shoulder. He looked down at her, and rolled his eyes. 

"You're cute."

"I know. That's why you love me." 

Ryan shrugged, turning suddenly and scooping Ray up, hauling her up only his back with ease. She laughed, used to the motion. He seemed to like carrying her a lot, for some reason. Her arms crossed over his shoulders, and she leaned down so that she could still speak to him. 

"Why are you always holding me?" She asked, nuzzling his soft hair. 

"Easier to protect." Was all the man said, and the girl's heart warmed. She smiled, hugging him tightly, feeling his fingers tighten on her legs as he walked. 

"Love you." She mumbled. He nodded, and even that was enough for her, because he understood, and he loved her. 

"We should go to the bird section. Ooh! They've got a petting zoo!" 

Ryan sighed, shaking his head, but he knew that there couldn't be much harm in just going to take a look. After all, what were the odds that peacocks were at a petting zoo?

He walked slowly with the girl clinging to his back, pausing every so often to look at an exhibit. They reached the elephants, and he couldn't help the little smile that crept onto his face as he saw a baby elephant skipping around, weaving between the legs of its mother. 

"Have you ever thought about having a kid, Rye?" Ray's voice sounded in his ear, and suddenly, his heart dropped like a rock, his eyes darkening. He just couldn't escape heart ache, could he?   
He looked down, turning away from the elephants, now reminded far too much of his old memories. He set Ray down, prying her fingers loose and began walking ahead, now struggling to push Vagabond back to the recesses of his mind. 

"Ryan? Hey, Rye, wait up!" Ray was thoroughly confused now as she pushed through the crowd after her lover. Clearly, that was something she shouldn't have said, be it because of their jobs or some other reason. It seemed to have upset Ryan quite a bit. She hurried after him, only managing to catch his fingers with hers.   
He looked back at her with eyes that showed buried anguish and fear, and Ray couldn't help but press a comforting hand to his cheek. He placed his hand over hers, leaning into it like a man who sought shelter. 

"Rye... you had a family before all this, didn't you?" She whispered, her heart breaking for the man as he gave a shaky nod. 

"I... I had a kid and a girl... I went out one night, I shouldn't have fucking left them." He said, his voice hoarse. He was clearly fighting back tears.   
"I came back and these guys... they'd killed them and..." He closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. 

"That's when Vagabond started?" Ray asked, and Ryan nodded. She let out a sigh of pity, leaning forward and pressing a soft kiss to his lips. She didn't hate him for not tell I g her, she didn't blame him an ounce. She wasn't jealous, she only wanted to heal his past wounds.

"Come on, baby. We don't have to stay here, we can go home." She said, taking his hand, but he stood still and tugged her back to him.   
"I want to stay, I'm fine." He promised, looking down at the younger. She looked up at him, and chewed her lip.  
"You sure? I don't want you to be upset and hanging out at a place that triggers bad memories." She said, and he nodded, kissing her jaw gently. 

"I want you to be happy. The difference between you and my family is that I will always be able and around to protect you." He kissed her lips, lingering longer than he usually would.   
It all made sense now, the way he was always at her side, not letting her handle her own problems, protecting her to the point of getting himself hurt.   
Her heart melted as she clung to him. 

"I love you, Ryan. Everything is okay, I promise. You don't have to be on guard all the time, but you're a fucking blessing." She smiled, feeling his grin as he pressed his face to the crook of her neck. She stroked his hair, content to stand there forever. But after a few minutes, Ryan finally pulled back, pressing a light kiss to her lips.   
"Ready to keep going?" He asked, a genuine smile on his lips. 

"You sure you want to?" Ray asked, apprehensive. Ryan rolled his eyes, taking her hand and pulling her along.

"Yes, I'm sure. No, I'm not saying it to accommodate you. Yes, I want to be here. No, I'm not leaving." 

Ah, true love. 

_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"It's just a petting zoo, come on! They're gonna yell at me for keeping the gate open, a goat or something is gonna get out, come on!" Ray called to Ryan, who stood ten feet outside of the pen. He was wrong. They definitely did put peacocks in petting zoos. 

"I will literally pay you to get your ass inside this gate now." 

The man sighed, dragging his feet as he trudged into the petting zoo. He might have been a psychotic homicidal maniac, but he was whipped as hell.   
Ray smiled, taking his hand, holding the back of pellet food for the animals, and guiding him into the enclosures, stopping at each pen to pet a goat or a llama, until they reached the dreaded bird. Its feathers were wide open, mesmerizing to Ray, but nervewracking to Ryan. The girl stepped forward, and he stood still, practically hiding behind her. She gently pulled him along, until she was close enough, allowing the creature to peck at the dry food in her palm. Ryan stood a ways back, and as Ray finally stood up, he was quick to start heading back to the exit.  
However, his path was suddenly blocked by a large, ugly, angry looking peacock that made his fingers itch, instinctively reaching for the concealed gun at his belt. Ray noticed the action hurrying past Ryan and waving her arms, shooing the bird. It squawked at her, and flapped its wings at her, frightening her a bit, but it soon scurried away, leaving Ryan with a relieved look on his face. 

"Have I told you that I love you lately?" He asked as he followed the girl to the exit. She shrugged, nudging him. 

"Not enough, ass." She grinned, catching his lips in a kiss, listening to the peacocks screech behind them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't feel as confident about this chapter as the others, but I hope you guys like it. I felt like doing a bit of character development on Ryan.


	5. The Kids Aren't Alright

A soft breeze blew, ruffling the sniper's hair, the strays that hadn't been tucked beneath the purple beanie atop her head. One eye closed, Ray watched through the scope of her rifle from the rooftop. Below her, she could see the rest of her crew at the docks, working a deal with a high profile gangster of Los Santos, Burnie Burns.   
She studied them, watching for any signal that she might need to get herself involved, but all she saw was Ryan's fingers tapping against his thigh, his face covered by his terrifying black mask. She watched his hand, identifying the movements as Morse code.   
"'Careful. He has backup'. Great. I got it." She mumbled, knowing they could hear her through their earpieces. She sighed, readjusting again, her armored vest growing uncomfortable in the warmth of the setting sun. They were taking a long time down there...   
The crew had decided, after receiving a job that required them to break into a mansion that had very high security and very few entrances, that they'd need new gear. So, after a bit of conversation, Burnie had arranged for the Crew to meet him. He didn't know about their sniper on the roof, though. Or, so she thought. She focused on listening to the conversation going on below her. 

"You're a rather large rival group of mine, what assurance can you offer me that you're being truthful, and you're not gonna blow my brains out the second I turn around?" Burns asked, chewing on his cigar. 

"You really think that little of us? Come on, we're all friends here." Geoff's smooth voice tried to smooth out the issue, as it did with his crew. 

"Is that true? Then why is there a sniper on that building up there?" 

The words made Ray's blood run cold, and she tried scrambling backwards, but there was a sudden hand on her leg, hauling her hard, then someone was grabbing her by the hood and wrenching her up. She shouted out, twisting hard and releasing herself, running towards the fire escape. She'd almost made it when something caught her ankle- A whip. Her foot was pulled out from under her, and she cried out as she got a face full of gravel, her palms taking the damage as well. Ray rolled onto her back as she heard footsteps approaching. Through her earpiece, she heard vaguely the shouting of her crew, but she didn't have time to listen to any of it as a boot came flying towards her face. She rolled again, avoiding the hit just barely, her earpiece falling out and getting smashed instead. She rolled over once more, coming up in a Black Widow-like stance. The leather whip still wrapped around her ankle, Ray pulled hard, the owner of the whip falling on his face. She chuckled, turning and running towards the fire escape once more, shaking the whip loose as she did, but only able to make it a few feet before she was caught by the hair, a large hand pulling her into submission. Ray yelled in pain, but was quickly subdued and thrown to the ground again, a large foot holding her down by the throat. She wheezed, her eyes welling with tears.   
Now, in the silence, she could hear gunshots and shouting in the boat yard down below. There was no way they'd get to her before he killed her. This was it.   
The man pulled the trigger. 

_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Michael had been fighting hand-to-hand with one of Burns' grunts, and winning too. He knew that Ray was in danger, but he figured that she could handle herself, having been one of her sparring partners. He was made of all muscle, and the scrawny Puerto Rican had taken him down more than once. He wasn't worried. That is, until he heard Burns give a shout to his men on the rooftop.   
"Kill the bitch! Don't let her get away!" And then... the loud gunshot. He froze, praying that it wasn't a killshot, but as he looked up, he saw a rooftop man carrying a girl with a purple hoodie over his shoulder. She was limp, swaying as he walked.   
"No! NO!" He shouted, pulling his gun and firing at Burns, but he was shoved down. He didn't stop fighting, not even when he saw Ryan start to run away with a roar. 

"Retreat!" Geoff's voice was cracking as he shouted, and Michael knew what to do. He kicked his attacker away, watching to make sure Gav got out before he did, his feet pounding pavement as he escaped. He still couldn't breathe. He'd killed Ray. Ray was dead. 

"Rendezvous at safe house one, guys." Jack called over the speaker, and the crew members shifted their courses to get back to the penthouse. 

_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"I knew this was gonna happen. We shouldn't have ever recruited her. She was a mistake, from the very beginning. She was just a kid. And now, she's dead." Geoff was pacing the living room, a glass of bourbon in his hand.   
Gav and Michael said on the couch together, both trembling, both sporting tear stained cheeks. Jack sat in an armchair, rubbing her forehead, hiding the tears that were definitely falling for her fallen comrade.   
Ryan stood at the desk, his eyes dark, his breaths slow and deep, his hair hanging down over his face. It had only been three hours, but he'd definitely cried the most, but he was unable to control himself, snapping in and out of Vagabond mode. He hated himself for letting this happen. It was his wife all over again. His child. And now, his lover. His heart ached, thinking about the plans they'd made for the upcoming weekend. They were supposed to have marathoned Halo for two days. He could only think about holding her. 

"This is your fault." 

The words left his lips, and all eyes were on him. 

"Scuse me?" Geoff turned to the man, who's blue eyes were full of malice and hatred. 

"This is your fault, Geoff. If you'd just put someone, me, up on the roof with her, she wouldn't be fucking dead. This is your fault. She's gone, and it's on you." 

Everything was silent. A pin could have dropped. 

"Get out." 

"Geoff!" Jack was on her feet suddenly, but the man held up a hand. 

"We don't have time for this. We need to work on revenge, not blame. Ryan, get out. Find someplace else to go, or stop being a bitch." 

"Geoff, his lover just died! Give him room to grieve! If he leaves, I'm going with him, because you and I both know that as soon as he gets out of here, he'll kill everyone in this damned city. If you don't stop thinking like a dictator, you'll lose two more people." Jack was firm in her words, standing between the two men like a mediator. 

"Please stop." Gavenia's voice cut through the tense air, drenched with tears and heartache. She was the baby now.  
Ryan looked around the room with anguish in his eyes before turning, and walking down the hall towards the door that was marked with a sign, stating 'It's Dangerous to go Alone, take this'. It spoke truth. It was dangerous to go alone. Ryan swallowed hard before pushing open the door and locking it behind him before he stepped across the hardwood floor and sat on the edge of Ray's bed, his chest aching with loss.  
He didn't truly blame Geoff.   
He blamed himself.  
The man hung his head, and wept. 

_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Cold water on her face stirred Ray from her deep slumber, making her jump and yelp, trying to squirm away, but she found her hands clamped to the arms of the chair that she sat in, her ankles chained to the legs.   
Her eyes adjusted to the bright lights, slowly able to discern a human being sitting in front of her.   
Burns smirked.   
"Good morning, sunshine. How are we feeling today?" He asked, sipping from a glass of amber liquid, assumedly brandy, from the look of it. 

"Fuck you." She spat, her voice hoarse and her head aching.   
Burns clicked his tongue, and a sudden surge of electricity slammed through the girl's body, making her scream out in agony. The flow stopped, but pain still lingered in her body.   
"No, are we feeling more accommodating?" The man asked, cocking his head.   
"I want to know about your friends. They were pretty fucked up when they thought you dead, so I assume you're a rather influential member of the team. Let's hear about it." 

Ray knew she couldn't tell him about anything, her crew would never forgive her, even if they thought she was dead. 

"Okay. Come here." She said softly, watching as the dumb man leaned forward.   
"Closer." She said, grinning when he obliged.   
"GO TO HELL!" The words were shouted, loud and violent, surely harming the man's ears. He growled, and Ray laughed, until lightening struck her body again, making her muscles tense and her back arch with a cry. The power was cut, and she flopped forward, her chest heaving. 

"You're not going to be very cooperative, are you?" Burns growled, and Ray smirked, shaking her head.   
"About as cooperative as a stoner at school."

The man scowled, standing up and turning his back, giving a quick motion, the electricity pulsing through Ray's body, stronger this time. Her jaw locked as she growled out her discomfort, her nails digging into the wood of the chair. She wasn't going to give up, even if he killed her. She wouldn't betray her team. The pain grew more intense, and she let out a wail just as it stopped, her body weakened.   
"You'll break sooner or later, Raychel. You can't keep secrets forever." Burnie muttered.   
"I'll die before I tell you shit." She snarled. He rolled his eyes, crossing the floor and delivering a swift punch to her face, effectively knocking her out.  
_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Six months.   
Six months passed, and the murder rate in Los Santos had risen.   
Ryan had not been seen at the Penthouse in weeks, and it felt as if Michael was the only thing keeping the Crew together.   
Ray's door stayed locked, her coffee mug in the back of the cabinet, collecting cobwebs.   
Burnie Burns was a problem, still chasing them down with everything he had. Gav and Geoff were still nursing wounds from the last run in with him, when he'd blown up a warehouse that they'd been working in. He was a thorn in their side that they couldn't remove.   
This night, Michael had just finished cooking dinner (spaghetti, the easiest meal), when the door of the apartment opened, Ryan entering in bloodstained clothes and smeared face paint. He stood there, staring at Michael, who glowered back at him, holding out a bowl of food. Ryan took it gratefully, sitting down at the breakfast nook. The television on the wall displayed the news, large letters stating that ten men had been found dismembered and scattered around the shipyard with no suspect in sight.   
"S' that you?" Michael asked the blond, who stared down at his bowl, giving a slight nod. 

"That's sixty this week, Ryan." 

" 'Know." He muttered, taking a bite of the pasta. 

"This is still because of her, isn't it?" The redhead back up slightly as Ryan gave a dangerous look. No one ever talked about Ray in front of him. 

"Sorry." Michael apologized quickly, picking up two bowls to take to Geoff and Gav, contemplating picking up the third for Jack, who'd spent all day in the planning room, trying to figure out how to beat Burns.   
To his surprise, Ryan stood, taking the third bowl from a struggling Michael, and carrying it down the hall to Jack. Michael was stunned for a moment. Ryan never helped anymore. He shook off his surprise, taking Geoff his dinner first, knocking on the door before kicking it open with a shout of ' MEALS ON WHEELS, BITCH'. Geoff yelled at him to piss off, and he happily obliged, crossing the hall to his and Gavenia's shared room, smirking as he found his girlfriend sleeping. He set the bowl on the side table, checking the cuts on her neck. He changed the bandage carefully, trying to remain silent, but he hissed as the uneven chime of the doorbell rang through the apartment.   
Michael sighed, quietly leaving the room and closing the door behind him before heading to the front door. One hand on his concealed gun, He slowly opened the heavy door, only to be greeted by a cardboard box, addressed to Ryan.   
"Hm. Yo, Ryan!" He called, tossing the box onto the coffee table. The blond man was in the room in a matter of seconds, his footsteps silent as Michael pointed to the box. He frowned, taking out his knife and carefully cutting the tape, ready for explosives, but all he got was...  
A purple hoodie.  
Ryan froze, pulling the garment out with care, unfolding it and studying it. It was dirty and holes littered the fabric, but there was no mistaking it. It belonged to Ray. A scrap of paper drifted out of the jacket, and Ryan grabbed it quickly.   
"Ryan? What is that?" Michael asked, his throat tight.   
"It.... It says 'Gullible'."  
_-_-_-_-_-_-_

She was broken and battered, stripped of her dignity. Ray had grown accustomed to torture, always dreading but expecting.   
Burns had just kept her for his own pleasure, like a pet. He'd taken her hoodie and her pride. Now she was dirty, her hair brushed her ribs and hung heavy with dirt.   
She'd been given a cell to call her own, a wooden slat on the floor with a blanket and a pillow atop it. It could have been worse. She tried to see the bright side, although she was basically a slave.   
Ray was curled up on the floor of her cell, her blanket wrapped around her scrawny form, nursing a fresh wound on her side. The sound of iron bars sliding open drew her attention, her eyes narrowing and her lip curling as Burns and his right hand man, Gus, entered the confined space.  
"C'mere, kid. I'm not gonna hurt you. We're going on a little trip." Gus said, and Ray backed away, hissing at him. Burns glared, stepping forward and taking a fist full of her hair, pulling her hard. She growled in pain, trying to pull free, though Burnie managed to pull her out of the cell halfway. She yelled, twisting firmly, her hair rubbing against the sharp, rusty bars. A bit more struggling, ans suddenly, Ray toppled backwards, hitting the floor hard, but grinning as she heard a thud not far from her, surely Burns falling as well. She sat up, and instantly, her heart fell as her hair brushed her face. The rusted bar had managed to cut her hair, and now it barely fell past her jaw. Her eyes welled with tears, and she got to her feet, trying to look dignified, though her locks now fell unevenly.   
Burns rose slowly, glaring horrendously. He snapped his fingers, and pointed to the space next to him. She had no choice but to obey.   
"Are you going to behave now?" He snarled, and Ray gave a shaky nod, allowing herself to be pulled along.   
"Where are we going?" She whispered softly, expecting a swinging hit to come her way, but none came. 

"We're going to see your friends, kiddo."

_-_-_-_-_-_-_

"She's fucking alive." Ryan was pacing through the living room, shaking with anticipation and anxiety.   
"I'll kill Burns. We need to go find her." He said, and for once, Geoff nodded in agreement.   
"Michael, you got any of that C4 left?"   
The russet haired man nodded, getting up and hurrying out of the room, Gav behind him to see if she could help.   
Jack, however, was looking quite perturbed.   
"How can we be certain? I mean, he could just be fucking with our heads. Burns-" She cut off as her phone buzzed beside her, and a moment of anger flashed over her features. It was a text message from 'Troublemaker #2', the nickname she'd given Ray, #1 being Gav, of course. Jack picked up the device and opened the message, her hand clenching around it and her heart pounding.   
It was a picture. A picture of Ray with a knife to her throat with an attached message stating 'Bring ten million. Ten miles west of the city. -Burns'.  
Jack could hardly breathe as she handed the phone to Geoff, who showed it to Ryan, who immediately turned, running down the hall and to the armory.

_-_-_-_-_-_-_

A quarter past three in the morning, the five stood in a solitary line on the outskirts of Los Santos, the skyline at their backs. Ryan wore his mask over his face so that the others couldn't see the fury and anguish that was clearly displayed. He was on the verge of slipping into Vagabond mode, his throat tight and his knuckles white on the hilt of his knife. Geoff, to his left, took a long drag on his cigar as he glanced at the man, then to his watch. His attention was drawn upwards as, in the distance, a car approached, throwing up dust as the headlights cut through the gloom.   
Ryan shifted, his hands tightening as the pulled up thirty feet away.  
The door of the red Impala swung open, and Burnie Burns climbed out, wearing a well fitted suit and sunglasses. The driver's door opened, and a silhouetted man stepped out, opening the back door and hauling out-  
"Ray." The name was a breath on Michael's lips, and he nearly stepped forward as she was walked to the headlights where she could be seen clearly.   
Her clothes were torn, her face bruised and her lip cracked and bleeding, her hair short and lacking its usual fluffy life, but it was definitely Ray.   
"Where's my money, Ramsey?" Burns called, and Geoff grinned.   
"Right here. Ray, drop!" He shouted, and everyone pulled weapons from seemingly nowhere. The prisoner was slow to react, but as bullets flew towards her, she suddenly became alert, and she fell to her knees, covering her head with bound hands. Burns and his body guard were like putty, taking every bullet until they fell to the ground in bloody heaps. The hell rain ceased, and Ryan tossed away his gun, covering the distance between himself and Ray in only a moment, dropping to his knees in front of her. He pulled her hands from her face, his eyes searching as he took in her trembling lips and teary eyes.   
"Fuck, Ray." He whispered, leaning forward and taking her into his arms, feeling her begin to shake in his embrace.   
Time shifted into a blur as he scooped her up, not allowing anyone to touch her as they made their way back to headquarters.  
_-_-_-_-_-_-_

Ray didn't remember very much about the exchange, not up until Ryan had his hands on her. She didn't comprehend his words, only his action, and they spoke volumes to her.  
'He's angry with me.', She'd thought, reminded only of the anger she'd been shown from Burns the past months. She'd blacked out there, when he'd picked her up, and the next time she woke, she was lying in roses. At least, that's what it felt like, having not slept in a real bed for so long. She shifted slightly, the ache in her muscles nearly giving her cause to cry, but she held her tongue as she pride open her eyes.   
Light filtered through the open window, the sounds of the city drifting in on a breeze.   
The red blanket that laid across her chest was so soft and familiar that it brought tears to her eyes. Looking at her own bludgeoned body, she realized that she was clean, as was the shirt she wore that smelled not of herself, but another, muskier, warmer person. The tears she'd been holding back slipped, and she didn't care. She was home.   
But wait.   
She was alone.   
Could this be a trick? She looked around the room with wide, afraid eyes, slowly moving her body so that she sat upright in the bed, taking in her surroundings. This was certainly her room...   
She stood on sore feet, the dark grey shirt falling around her hips. It belonged to Ryan, she could tell. Limping, she crossed the hardwood floor to the door, her fingers trembling as the wrapped around the handle and turned it, the smell of food making her stomach roar as it tickled her senses. She bit her lip, a hand on the wall to steady her clumsy feet as she stumbled down the hall, stopping every few feet to rest before continuing on.   
It was silent as she reached the main room, as no one was there, but when she continued to the kitchen, there was a bit of squabbling that she overheard before she presented herself.   
"She's been out for three days, shouldn't we call Lindsey?" Gavenia was speaking, clearly concerned for Ray's well being. 

"No. Give her time, she's been through a lot. I want her awake as much as you do." That voice melted her heart and scared the shit out of her all at once. Her heart began pounding and she began to her legs going weak as she sank to the floor. She couldn't breathe.  
Then, suddenly, someone was picking her up, carrying her into the living room and laying her across the couch, tucking a pillow behind her head.   
"Deep breaths. You can do it, deep breaths." Ryan's voice was close to her, and her vision cleared, her eyes taking in her lover. 

"Ryan." She managed, her hands clasping around his fingers. He hushed her, moving his hand and prompting her breathing. Soon, she was calmed, studying the man with wide eyes. He traced a finger over her jaw, and she flinched away instinctively.   
Ryan stared at her, pity displayed in his blue hues.   
"I'm so sorry, baby. This is all my fault. I should have been with you, and I won't ever let this happen to you again." He whispered, holding her hand tightly. She looked so pale and sickly laying there, her eyes dark, her body thin with malnutrition. All the same, she managed to shake her head.   
"N-no, I... It's not your fault, I just... I'm sorry that this happened, if I had just... I should have..." She swallowed hard, and jumped as Ryan laid his hand on her shoulder. 

"I... I don't know what he did to you, Ray, but we'll fix it. At your own pace." Ryan said gently, sitting back from her. She sat up, hugging her arms across herself and nodding, attempting to find words, but none came. She couldn't bring herself to speak.

"I love you." Ryan mumbled, and Ray looked up, her lips moving, but she still couldn't manage it. Instead, out of frustration, and a touch of relief that he didn't hate her, tears spilled down her cheeks, and she sucked in a deep breath and hung her head. 

"You hungry?"

Those words made the girl look up and nod quickly. 

"Do you want to go to the kitchen or do you want to sit here?" Ryan stood holding out his hand to her, and Ray hesitated, taking it and allowing him to help her off the couch before letting go. He wasn't offended. He was patient. She took a step forward, stumbling a bit, but he was there, ready to steady her. She waved her hand, taking slow steps and leaning against the wall.   
Watching his lover struggle without being able to help her was breaking Ryan's heart, but he followed as if handling a toddler, his fingers barely brushing the small of her back.   
"Can I carry you, Ray?" He asked, and she stopped, swaying precariously before nodding, swallowing hard. Ryan nodded, very gently wrapping an arm around her back and the other behind her knees, holding her to his chest as he walked to the kitchen.   
Gav stood in the doorway, her eyes wide with joy.   
"Hey, Ray." She said, and the girl smiled softly, ducking her head uncharacteristically. Gavenia frowned, looking to Ryan as he set Ray on the counter, turning to the fridge to pull out the rest of the leftover pizza. Ray didn't even wait do him to heat it up, she just snatched a piece from the box and wolfed it down, surprising herself, but not really. She hadn't eaten a decent meal in forever. Ryan was at ease as he set the box beside her, allowing her to eat as much as she wanted. 

_-_-_-_-_-_-_  
-One Month Later-

"I want to go!" 

"No." 

"Come on, let me go!" 

"Ryan's not going, you're not going. You're not ready." 

Ray stood in the living room, her arms crossed over her chest. Jack was dressed for the mission, Gav, Michael and Geoff already out in the car.   
"I'm fine!" 

"You can't even walk yet." 

"Yes I can!" 

"No." The woman shook her head once more, watching as Ryan placed a hand on Ray's arm. He nodded to her, and Jack nodded back, heading out the door. 

"Son of a bitch." She growled, pulling away from Ryan and limping to the couch, flopping down and hauling her blanket over herself.   
She'd been up early preparing for this heist, and she would have been able to participate if she hadn't worked herself to hard in training. She'd been working with Ryan, and she'd thrown a high kick at his head. He'd thrown up an arm, blocking and knocking her back. Her ankle had twisted, and she was down for the count.  
Now she was angrily punching buttons on her Gameboy, halfway hiding under the blanket. Ryan smiled lightly, sitting next to the girl. He was still getting readjusted to her presence. The two hadn't slept apart since her return, though she'd been plagued with horrific nightmares that often left her screaming and awake for the rest of the night. Ray didn't like to be parted from Ryan, and often the two cooked for the Crew now that Ryan didn't go on many heists.  
Ray had burned the hamburgers the first time they'd cooked, and now she'd been downgraded to ingredients that didn't need to be cooked.

"What do you wanna do?" Ryan asked, poking Ray's hip. She kicked in irritation, but as Ryan rolled his eyes and flopped on her, she let out an adorable squeak, closing her console and setting it on the floor. The man slid under the blanket, nuzzling her neck softly.   
"I love you." Ray said quietly, wriggling down under him. He smiled, kissing her lightly.   
"I'm never letting go."

**Author's Note:**

> I started writing this forever ago with the desire to write a female sniper, so what was better than Genderbending the Crew?  
> I hope you guys enjoyed, please leave me some feedback!


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